An Taisce to sue State over dumping

An Taisce is to take legal action against the State following what it says is the "failure" of State agencies to prosecute Roadstone over illegal dumping on its lands in Co Wicklow.

As revealed by The Irish Times last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has decided not to bring charges against the company, based on legal advice relating to case law in England regarding corporate responsibility.

The chairman of An Taisce, Mr Frank Corcoran, said yesterday that he believed the decision of the DPP could not be allowed to stand as it "could lead to an epidemic of illegal dumping by landowners who form companies - which is easy to do".

Roadstone has consistently denied any knowledge of the operation which saw 100,000 tonnes of waste dumped on its land at Dillonsdown near Blessington lakes. It has proposed a remediation scheme which involves removing hazardous and recyclable material, while retaining the remainder in a containment cell aimed at preventing pollution.

The company has also recently paid €500,000 in costs of the original investigation by Wicklow County Council.

However, Mr Corcoran said yesterday that the dumping had already resulted in contamination of an important regional aquifer from which it was planned to extract drinking water for local housing.

The decision by the DPP not to prosecute Roadstone followed a three-year investigation by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in relation to the illegal dump. Both Wicklow County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency have indicated they also do not intend to proceed with a prosecution against the company.

Last week the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, expressed the Government's intention to prosecute all landowners who "knowingly" allowed an illegal dump on their land.

Mr Corcoran said that while the Minister appeared to be taking a firm stand on the issue the use of the word "knowingly" was effectively a "get out clause".

"There is no 'knowingly' in the relevant EU case law. The European Court is particularly clear on this and there is case law dating from as recently as last September where a Belgian company was found liable, even though it genuinely did not know about pollution it caused.

"What matters here is EU law and the EU Waste Directive which clearly states that a company is liable in civil and criminal law," he maintained.

Mr Roche said Mr Corcoran was being "disingenuous" in his criticism. He said it was well known that he should not interfere in the role of the DPP, while other considerations were a matter for the Office of Environmental Enforcement.

Roadstone said yesterday it regrets that unauthorised dumping took place on its Blessington lands.

"While some have questioned how this could have taken place without the company being aware, the fact is that Roadstone had no knowledge of the unauthorised dumping, and did not benefit from it in any way.

"The company fully accepts its responsibilities to remediate the waste and will do so in full compliance and co-operation with the regulatory authorities.

"Roadstone understands that charges have been instituted for this activity against a number of individuals. Roadstone can comment no further on this matter."