Wicklow council discovers new illegal dump sites

Wicklow County Council has made additional discoveries of what "appears to be very serious incidents of illegal dumping" in west Wicklow.

It is understood a significant amount of the waste comes from hospitals in the eastern region.

Environmental staff, who will brief members of the council on the finds at a special meeting this morning, have confirmed that investigations in the Baltinglass and Blessington areas have led them to a number of new, unauthorised, sites - thought to be four - in which suspicious material has been found.

The council has also confirmed that legal proceedings are being taken against a number of people allegedly involved in the dumping of hospital waste at Coolnamadra, near Donard, last month.

Site investigations on the Coolnamadra site have been carried out by specialist consultants acting for Wicklow County Council.

This team has now moved to the site of last week's find at Whitestown Quarry.

The results of forensic examination of this waste will be used to support civil and criminal prosecutions in relation to the finds, according to the council.

While Wicklow County Council says at this stage that it does not know how much hospital waste is on site at Whitestown, sources said the appearance of new sites which they said contain significant quantities of hospital waste, suggested a more organised operation than was initially assumed.

The council has declined to identify precise locations of the new finds.

It is understood it believes this will increase the chances of successful prosecutions against landowners and waste contractors.

Councillors are concerned that if reports of 200,000 tonnes are accurate the amount of money paid to those who dumped the material could run into many millions of pounds.

A Labour councillor, Mr Tommy Cullen, told The Irish Times: "The gate price for ordinary household waste is about £90 a tonne, hospital waste would be much, much more than that. But if we leave it at £90 a tonne, you are looking at a potential value of the Whitestown waste alone at £18 million."

Mr Cullen said that even if his figures were not accurate and the waste contractors were accepting "half that" the eventual figure across the now suspected six dumps, "would still be in the tens of millions of pounds".

Officially, Wicklow County Council has said little about either of the confirmed finds of hospital waste, refusing to confirm either the landowners' names, the hospitals involved, or the legitimate contractors the hospitals hired to dispose of the waste.

In a statement issued to The Irish Times yesterday, the council said it was "appalled by illegal and irresponsible behaviour of those involved in the dumping of waste". The council was determined those behind the dumping "will be subjected to the full rigours of the law".

Those responsible for the illegal dumping of hospital waste in Co Wicklow are believed to be rogue skip operators.

Skip owners are contracted by hospitals to dispose of general hospital waste, including surplus food, unused dressings and decontaminated material.

They are expected to take this waste to a licensed landfill but it is understood they are disposing of it illegally to avoid paying charges.

Up until now skip operators have been allowed to operate without licences, but from tomorrow they will be required to register with the local authority in the area where they operate.

Companies in the State specialising in the disposal of clinical waste from the healthcare sector, which would include gloves, swabs and bandages, have always been found to be compliant with their licences.