Wicklow County Council is expected to outline details later today of what has been described as "by far the biggest dump yet" in its investigation into illegal dumping in the county.
Confirmation of the dump's existence was revealed to councillors at yesterday's monthly meeting. During an update on the council's progress on legal actions and ongoing environmental investigations, councillors were told exact details of the latest dump were being kept confidential to ensure the investigation was not compromised.
However The Irish Times understands that the dump is located in the Blessington area where concerns have been expressed about possible contamination of a local aquifer. Preliminary investigations suggest hospital and domestic waste has been found.
After the meeting Labour Party deputy leader and spokeswoman on health Ms Liz McManus said councillors could only speculate on the location of the dump but she said it "was a very serious issue".
Ms McManus said the find was described as "by far the biggest dump yet" in a report by council staff. This would place the volume of refuse in the dump at more than 300,000 tonnes.
Previously, the council's largest find of illegally dumped waste involved between 250,000 and 300,000 tonnes of waste contaminated by hospital waste in a dump at Whitestown. near Baltinglass in west Wicklow. The discovery was made earlier this year.
However, it is believed that while this particular find attracted a lot of media attention at the time, the problem of illegal dumping has not stopped.
Despite court judgments in which one landowner and a waste contractor were held liable for the full cost of an environmental clean-up at one illegal dump - which could run to €20 million - illegal dumping has continued.
In the aftermath of a trial in which a Blessington waste contractor was sentenced to 10 years in jail in connection with another dump, it is understood Wicklow County Council has detected another man in the area allegedly still dumping illegally.
The council has recently put in place road blocks and mounted mobile patrols assisted by gardaí to catch the perpetrators.
People living in the Blessington area have reported seeing lorries dumping. One resident said: "We have been looking at lorries going around country lanes in this area for more than 10 years. What did anyone think they were doing - there is no legal dump in this area?"