Tests conducted by the EPA on wastewater at the North Cork Co-Op Creamery Plant adjacent to the site of a large Blackwater River fish kill two weeks ago found the Co-Op was not compliant with its discharge licences.
Tests on a 'grab sample’ of wastewater collected at the creamery at lunchtime on 12 August found that ammonia levels in the discharge were 52 times over the permitted limit.
It also found that orthophosphate was seven times over the limits, and total phosphorus levels were two and a half times above the licenced amount.
Another composite sample representing the wastewater that would have been discharged between midnight the previous night and 10am that morning also found significant exceedances.
Oxygen demand indicators that were used as indicators of potential pollution in the discharges were also significantly above permitted amounts.
The test results were published today without comment on the website of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI).
IFI previously estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 fish were killed along an 18km stretch of the river earlier this month.
Local anglers and conservationists insist that more than 40,000 fish died in the river at that time.
Diagnostic sampling of affected fish was carried out in Mallow.
IFI last week confirmed the deaths of thousands of brown trout were caused by a pollution incident.
Further investigation into white discharge on river
Separately, IFI has confirmed that an investigation has been launched after locals spotted a white discharge in the water on the north bank of the River Blackwater in Fermoy yesterday.
IFI said that a probe is being carried out by their officers and Cork County Council who attended the scene this morning.
"Cork County Council staff have taken water samples from the discharge point, and is further investigating to try and identify the source of this discharge," it said.
It added: "At this juncture, it's not thought to be connected to the ongoing multi-agency investigation into fish mortalities on the River Blackwater."
