Waste on Roadstone land must be moved

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused permission to Roadstone to create a managed landfill for illegally dumped waste on its land at Blessington, Co Wicklow.

Wicklow County Council estimated that 50,000 tonnes of waste were dumped on the company's 600-acre site close to the village of Blessington in the late 1990s.

In its determination yesterday, the EPA said that removing the waste for proper disposal elsewhere was the best solution, in the light of the proximity of the Poulaphouca reservoir and local wells serving drinking water to Blessington village.

The decision was welcomed by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche and Wicklow County Council, as well as Roadstone.

The local community in Blessington also expressed satisfaction with the announcement. However, local resident and president of An Taisce Frank Corcoran said an issue remained about the wording of the EPA decision. Mr Corcoran said the expression "all potentially polluting wastes" was unnecessary and the EPA should have said "all wastes".

The difference relates to inert material such as soil and rock which was also dumped. The EPA believes uncontaminated, inert rubble may safely be left on site but has said all contaminated soils alongside the 50,000 tonnes of waste will be removed.

However, Mr Corcoran referred to another illegal Wicklow dump at Coolamadra where he said 12,000 tonnes of waste were dumped and where he insisted the EPA remediation licence had required that just 47 tonnes of waste be removed.

Mr Corcoran said there had been a lot of changes in relation to the Roadstone dump, with Wicklow County Council initially serving a remediation notice on Roadstone which would have allowed it to proceed without planning permission. "This was only changed when local people expressed opposition to it," he said.

But in a statement Wicklow County Council welcomed the EPA determination, saying it was a tribute to the work of its environmental services department.

"This brings to a satisfactory conclusion four years of work by Wicklow County Council. The council has spent many thousands of man-hours and in excess of half a million euro investigating this site," the council said in a statement.

Council spokesman Michael Nicholson said it "was the best possible outcome in this case and it vindicates the Trojan work done by council staff over the past four years".

Roadstone repeated its consistent assertions that it had not been aware that waste was being illegally dumped on its land and it had at all times co-operated with the investigation.

The company said it had offered as far back as last July to remove all the waste for legitimate disposal.The company said it was also pleased with the EPA determination that it had "engaged in an open and committed way" with the agency.