DPP backs prosecution over illegally dumped toxic sludge

The DPP is believed to have recommended a prosecution be taken in relation to alleged illegal dumping on a large site in Co Louth that first came to public notice two years ago.

Among the waste found was an estimated 500 tonnes of toxic sludge, believed to be the residue of illegal diesel laundering.

When the dump was discovered in Aug 2011, there had been concerns about it being close to a water treatment plant that serves Dundalk town, but the county council said there was no threat to the supply. The council yesterday confirmed it had tendered for specialist contractors to properlydispose of all of the material found, which amounts to 1,600 cu m.

A council spokesperson said: “We had to tender for suitable qualified contractors to take the waste away. The bulk of it is household waste. This is not a new find.”

The spokesperson said the council last year processed, through contractors, 600 tonnes of toxic diesel sludge and, so far this year, “had 68 incidents and processed 400 tonnes”.

Garda detectives from Dundalk completed a file for the DPP after an investigation into allegations of illegal dumping.

It is believed the DPP recently made a decision to pursue a prosecution and it is understood that will be done before the year-end.

In the eTender document advertising for specialist contractors, it says the council wants to remove “unauthorised in-filled waste material from a quarry site located in north County Louth under Section 56 of the Waste Management Act 1996 as amended due to concerns of environmental pollution occurring on this site”.

“The source of the hazardous material is believed to be from activities relating to the laundering of marked diesel fuel.”

It also refers to some 100 cu m of waste liquid which is believed to refer to a pond that gathered at the bottom of the site.

The amount of sludge found suggests it had been left there over a period of time “because the volume was too great for it to have been put there all at once”, according to an informed source.

To date, all of the costs of recovering, repackaging, and disposing of the sludge which is hazardous waste has been paid for by local authorities but is being recouped from the Department of the Environment.