Dump did not contaminate water, says firm

Dan Collins

Yesterday, the company made a further submission in its appeal to the EPA

following the agency’s refusal to grant the company a waste licence for the site.

EPA director general Dr Mary Kelly has told the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government that the site contains more than three times the company’s 50,000 tonne estimate.

But Roadstone yesterday said “separate and extensive investigations by Wicklow County Council, An Garda Síochána and Roadstone Dublin indicate that the total amount of unauthorised domestic commercial and industrial waste is estimated to be 50,000 tonnes”.

Dr Kelly also said the dump was starting to contaminate the local ground water supply but stressed there was no immediate threat to public health.

Yesterday, Roadstone Dublin confirmed that it had made a further submission to the EPA in response to its draft decision to refuse a waste licence application for the remediation of illegal and unauthorised waste on its lands at Blessington.

“Roadstone Dublin is committed to remediating the waste on site at the earliest opportunity but cannot commence remediation until permitted to do so by the EPA,” the company said. The company also said that a ground monitoring programme, in place since March 2003 under the remediation scheme, indicates that the waste poses no threat to the local drinking water supplies.

Wicklow County Council continues to confirm that local drinking water supplies are safe, the company stated.