Call for EPA investigation into sludge found on north Louth coastline

A north Louth councillor has called for an EPA investigation after concerns were raised about possible pollution at Rockmarshall beach.

Faughart based councillor John Reilly told The Argus he was contacted on Sunday night by a man who had spotted what appeared to be sludge in the water as he walked his dog along the beach dog on Rockmarshall beach. 

Cllr Reilly visited the site at around 1pm and took a series of photographs of a black sludge apparently coming in on an inward tide.

He said that “without any shadow of a doubt there has been an environmental incident in Dundalk Bay, most likely in the early hours of Saturday morning.”

The councillor said the tide was high around midnight on Saturday night and that this pollution was washing in on an inward tide..

He said the incident coincided with “complaints that he has received on several occasions from residents in the area complaining of a foul smell” in the area.

'I don't think there can be any doubt that we have a pollution problem in Dundalk Bay,' Cllr Reilly says, 'the source of which needs to be investigated.'