Company 'vindicated' by ruling

THE ACTIVITIES of A1 waste at the O’Reilly Quarry at Whitestown in west Wicklow should never have resulted in charges of waste disposal in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution, the company claimed yesterday.

Speaking after director Tony Dean was fined €10,000 on an amended charge of waste recovery without a licence, yesterday, a company spokesman said only inert materials had been taken by the company to Whitestown.

Spokesman Sam Stears said the finding by Judge Desmond Hogan that only inert material had been placed by A1 Waste at Whitestown, had vindicated the company and its personnel.

He said Mr Dean had at all times been assured the necessary permits were in place. He said on occasions when Mr Dean visited the 47-acre quarry, Wicklow County Council’s representative was on site, and was able to direct those bringing waste on site.

He acknowledged A1 Waste had a business disposing of hospital waste but said he did not understand how hospital waste had been found in the area where the company had been active. Mr Stears was adamant that the business had provided gardaí with a “paper trail” for the collection and disposal of all such waste.

Mr Spears said the company was very grateful to the gardaí from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who he said “had done an excellent job”. He said the company was now counting the cost of its eight-year ordeal and would consult on what moves to take next.

Wicklow County Council which initiated a civil high court action against A1 Waste was not available for comment yesterday.

A number of people are awaiting sentencing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on charges in relation to illegal dumping at the Whitestown site.

John O’Reilly, now of Robertstown, Naas, who owned the Whitestown site at the time, was fined €150,000 in July 2006 for allowing his land to be used for disposing of waste that could cause pollution between November 2000 and December 2001.

Louis Moriarty, hotelier and owner of Swalcliff Ltd (trading as Dublin Waste), is awaiting finalisation of sentence.

Moriarty had pleaded guilty in February 2008 to disposing of waste in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution at Whitestown and at another Wicklow site at Coolnamadra, Donard in 2001.

Neville Watson (41), of Trim, Co Meath, a truck driver who worked for Moriarty’s company, Swalcliff trading as Dublin Waste, was jailed for six months in July 2006 after he pleaded guilty to disposing of waste without a licence at Whitestown between November 2000 and December 2001.

A nolle prosequi was entered on all charges against two former employees of A1 Waste in February of this year. Laurence Creighton, Kill Village, Kill, Co Kildare, and Pat Fitzharris, The Rockery, Knocklyon, Dublin had along with Anthony Dean pleaded not guilty to disposing of lorry loads of waste without a licence and in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution by creating a risk to the water, atmosphere, land, soil, plants or animals at the Wicklow site.