Up to one million litres of oil from heavy duty electrical cables has leaked into Dublin's Royal and Grand Canals, a shocking new investigation reveals.
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation into serious safety hazards within the ESB Network that span two decades.
The explosive revelations were brought to light by a whistleblower who has documented his concerns in a protected disclosure.
The EPA launched its investigation after being contacted by RTE.
Full details of whistleblower Seamus O'Loughlin's disclosure will air on RTE Investigates tonight.
The biggest concern highlighted is the leaking of vast quantities of insulating oil from the national grid which continues to this day.
Mr O’Loughlin said: "I got the report on the fluid filled cables, I got the total leakage, up to a million litres in 20 year period.
"I just couldn’t compute it to be honest. I was astounded."
The whistleblower had a variety of safety concerns which he raised with the ESB.
He formally lodged a number of protected disclosures with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in January 2019.
The disclosures are still being examined by the Department.
Mr O’Loughlin added: "Staff were raising what I believed were legitimate safety concerns and they were saying, 'we are expected to use equipment which we believe isn't safe' and I couldn't really argue with that."
A spokesperson for the EPA said: "Given the alleged scale and duration of these incidents as reported by RTE, and the correspondence received this week from ESB Networks, the EPA has launched an immediate investigation into the matter."
The EPA spokesperson added that local authorities are the agencies to which water pollution incidents must be reported.
When RTE Investigates asked Dublin City Council about this, a spokesperson said that apart from two incidents in 2009 and 2011, the local authority was not informed about leaks from the underground network.
The spokesperson added the council would expect to be notified of any instances of leakage by ESB Networks.
RTE Investigates - The ESB Leaks airs tonight at 9.35.pm on RTE One.
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