Gardaí to seize trucks for illegal dumping

GARDAÍ will be able to seize trucks suspected of being involved in illegal dumping under Government proposals.

The move is part of a major crackdown on a trade that is generating millions of euro in profit for unscrupulous individuals and criminal gangs.

It is also costing the State large sums of money through lengthy investigations by waste enforcement officers and gardaí and in environmental clean-up costs.

The initiative is part of a cross-Border operation focusing on the illegal disposal of domestic and commercial waste from the South into the North.

The powers are being drawn up by Justice Minister Michael McDowell in conjunction with the chief of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Hugh Orde.

Mr McDowell said the new legislation would allow gardaí to seize trucks suspected of being involving in illegal dumping and impound them.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman said the issue was being discussed by the PSNI and the gardaí as an initiative that was desirable.

She said the minister would be raising the matter with the Government.

A garda source yesterday said such a power would be of major benefit, as illegal operators would not be able to dump if their trucks were confiscated.

The cross-Border trade has grown following the discovery of massive illegal dumps south of the Border and the rerouting of waste across the Border.

The Department of the Environment in the North said it was uncovering up to two illegal dumps each week.

A special North-South report published at the end of last month highlighted the scale of the problem.

The first-ever Cross Border Organised Crime Assessment said more than 140 illegal dumping sites had been identified in the North, all of which contained at least some waste from the South.

“Tens of thousands of tonnes of Northern Irish waste have also been found in landfill sites in Scotland,” said the report, which was jointly published by Mr McDowell and Mr Orde.

The report said the trade was “a potentially lucrative form of criminality”.

It said five sites in the North, which had been fully investigated, had between 5,000 to 25,000 tonnes of waste, valued at €4,400 to €7,300 per 20 tonne lorry load for the illegal operator.