Lord Mayor commends rapid response to River Lee fuel spill

The Lord Mayor of Cork has commended Cork City Council for its rapid response to a fuel spill on the River Lee today.

The incident occurred at 9. 45am this morning, when what the council described as “a small amount of marine gas oil (MGO)” was discharged into the river at Hogan’s Quay.

In a statement, Cork City Council said an estimated 20 litres of MGO was released into “a limited area of the River Lee”.

The council said the discharge had occurred during a transfer from a road tanker to a fishing vessel at Horgan’s Quay.

“The release was momentary and was stopped quickly,” the council said.

In a joint operation, teams from Cork City Council and the Port of Cork Company are currently responding to the incident.

The council stated that the release took place “adjacent to the quayside and away from Cork Harbour’s environmentally sensitive areas”.

The council said the Irish Coastguard has been informed, and it was expected that the response would be completed in the coming hours.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, commended those involved in addressing the matter so quickly.

“I’m disappointed that the incident happened, but thankfully it was stopped straight away, and health and safety measures were put in place quickly,” Cllr McCarthy said.

“I will be asking the chief executive’s office for a full debriefing on what has actually occurred.” 

Cllr Lorna Bogue of An Rabharta Glas said she welcomed the council’s quick response to the incident.

“I’m glad to hear that action has been taken quickly on it, and that an investigation is ongoing,” Cllr Bogue said. “I will be interested to hear the results of that investigation.” 

Green Party councillor Dan Boyle said the incident was very regrettable.

“It’s something you certainly don’t want to see a repeat of, and the city centre is no longer a venue for fishing boats in any large numbers, and there should be accountability when incidents such as this happen,” Cllr Boyle said.

“It was dealt with fairly quickly, but there should be consequences for those people responsible.” 

Fianna Fáil councillor Colm Kelleher said he was hopeful that the damage would be minimal.

“Any contamination of the river is unfortunate, and I’m not acutely aware in relation to the potency of the substance involved, but 20 litres in comparison to the size of the Lee is small, but there are protocols in place, and between the city council and all the relevant stakeholders, we look forward to the completion of the clean-up.” 

Cork City Council said an investigation was ongoing.