WICKLOW County Council has denied that it intends to bring waste from Dublin to its proposed 300-acre dump at Ballynagran, south of Rathnew. Locals campaigning against the dump maintain that without such an agreement the dump would not be economically feasible.
Wicklow councillors voted against the plan in 1994 and again this year. But a High Court decision last year upheld the council management's view that the councillors' permission is not necessary. A Supreme Court appeal is to be heard next month.
Residents in the Ballynagran-Coolbeg action group say any council assurance that the dump would he reserved for Wicklow's waste is not enforceable. While mounting a picket on a council meeting this week, action group members said the cost of the dump at £10 million to £12 million - was unlikely to be funded by the EU, given its opposition to landfill sites.
According to an action group committee member, Mr Nigel Pratt, this means that funding must come from a 600 per cent increase in local charges or from charging other local authorities to dump there. "The sheer size of the dump implies that charging Dublin for waste facilities is the most likely scenario," he said.
The group argues that the dump is environmentally unsafe, as the Threemilewater river rises in the area and the danger of pollution is too severe. A plan to pipe the leachate out to sea has also been described as posing a threat to Wicklow's beaches.
Mr Brian Doyle, Wicklow county secretary, said these issues were fully dealt with in the council's environmental impact statement (EIS). It is with the Minister for the Environment, who will have the final decision.
On allegations that he wishes to import waste, Mr Doyle said: "We deny that. The size of the dump is designed to comply with the EPA guidelines and the Waste Management Act. It is actually 50 acres of dump with the balance being a buffer zone".
He said "assurances and explanations" had been given to all the questions raised. "These are live issues because of the similar-sized dumps planned for Dunshaughlin and elsewhere, but we have no plans to bring in waste from Dublin to Ballynagran."