http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0118/1224310399562.html
Dear Marian,
I am writing to express my support for your recent article in relation to septic tanks. In particular, I am in full agreement that certain people, (especially an Taisce) are using septic tanks to fight a proxy war against rural housing.
I myself am actually a member of an Taisce, but the deep ideological opposition of this group to one-off rural housing baffles me. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the horrible proliferation of housing estates across the country is a direct consequence of the lobbying of this very loud group against rural housing. Rural people found it impossible to build at home in their own communities and so the demand for new housing on the outskirts of small towns rocketed. Every time I hear an Taisce decry housing estates I cringe -where are people supposed to live if an Taisce is opposed to houses in the countryside and in the town?
It is difficult to share their concerns about groundwater contamination. After all, where do they think livestock and wildlife are relieving themselves if not into the fields and by proxy the groundwater? Nature has the tools to break down the harmful elements, and has been doing so for a long time before we started building septic tanks. An Taisce know this, but use it as an environmental argument against the "bungalow blight" they detest (known as "homes" by the rest of us).
Finally, I'm glad you highlighted the 3 card trick they are trying to pull in relation to Galway's Chryptosporidium outbreak -I would also add that there is stock footage of Duncan Stewart looking at a truly appalling septic tank somewhere. This footage is wheeled out by RTE and an Taisce every time the debate on septic tanks is raised and held up as the typical septic tank. The next time such is shown, it should be named as what it is -a freak plumbing failure, rather than the natural consequence of installing a tank.
sincerely...
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