Inquiry into fire at contested landfill site

GARDAÍ are investigating a suspicious fire which broke out on Thursday evening at a landfill in Co Kildare which is the subject of multiple High Court actions to close down the facility.

The blaze broke out at a disused part of the site at Kerdiffstown located between Naas and Sallins shortly before 6pm.

Tonnes of waste caught fire leading to a cloud of thick black smoke lasting in the area for several hours, while damage was also caused to a building on the site.

It is the second fire over the past two months at the landfill site which has already been stopped from taking in new waste since earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency.

There is a complicated corporate structure regarding the landfill at Kerdiffstown involving three companies. Neiphin Trading operated the landfill, while Dean Waste Company Ltd provided the waste and the site was owned by Jenzsoph Ltd.

Dean Waste is better known as A1 Waste – one of the country’s largest waste firms – which is in receivership, while Neiphin is in liquidation and Jenzsoph is insolvent.

The predominant shareholder in all three companies is 58-year-old, Dublin businessman and Fianna Fáil supporter, Anthony Dean.