Dermott McCurdy, NIW project sponsor, and Eric Stewart, project manager, presented an overview of draft plans to change the sewage outfall in the area.

NIW has three assets in East Antrim - Ballycarry and Ballystrudder works and a small pumping station in Whitehead. Currently sewage is discharged into Larne Lough.

Ballystrudder and Whitehead are not up to current discharge standards, councillors heard, and NIW has until 2010 to comply. Because the sites are not in compliance, NIW propose to construct a new outfall system - which will take waste out to sea and put an end to dumping in Larne Lough.

By stopping discharges into Larne Lough, the area's once thriving shellfish population could be re-established, councillors heard. Mr Stewart said: "The idea is to pump from Whitehead and from there to Ballycarry or Ballystrudder then dump into the Irish Sea."

A projection showed an outfall pipe extending 350m from the coast at Cloghfin to a depth of ten metres. At this depth and distance from the shore, Mr Stewart said, the dissolution should be sufficient not to cause any problems. Stressing that the project is a "work in progress" he said that construction could start in March 2009 and be completed by late 2010. Stakeholders and environmental groups will be consulted, he said, adding: "We are committed to working with the local community."

Alderman Roy Beggs said that many people are concerned by discharging sewage into the sea. "I feel very strongly that by chopping it up into the sea is really polluting our seas. Divers have told me that discharge stains limestone rock miles away," he said.

Ald. Beggs said that his preference would be for land-based disposal over dumping into the sea. He welcomed the move away from disposal into Larne Lough following the "destruction of the mussel industry and contamination from all sources. I do not accept agriculture is to blame."

Councillor Andy Wilson said: "It means we can stop dumping sewage into Larne Lough." But, he said, there are proposals for a major tourism investment at the Gobbins - the council's plan to reinstate the cliff path to its Victorian heyday - and a sewage outflow at sea might raise concerns.

Councillor Gregg McKeen said that potential proximity to the Gobbins is "a major concern." Councillor Brian Dunn added: "The last thing tourists want to do is watch sewage float by."

Mr McCurdy said that sewage will be passed through a screen with a 6mm mesh, the outfall will be 350 metres off shore and ten metres below the surface. "We asked for this so we do not get a slick and there's no visible evidence," he said.

Land-based treatment is considerably more expensive than disposal into the sea, he said, with the former likely to cost around £6m compared to £4m.

Mr Stewart conceded that plans to update the water services in the area have been around for some time.