Investigations seek those responsible for illegal dump

Eoin English Investigations are under way in a bid to trace those responsible for a vast illegal dump on the northside of Cork City where a massive clean-up operation has begun.

Investigations are under way in a bid to trace those responsible for a vast illegal dump on the northside of Cork City where a massive clean-up operation has begun.

Contractors finally moved on to the Ellis’s yard site in Ballyvolane yesterday to remove an estimated 200 tonnes of domestic, building and hazardous waste, including some five tonnes of exposed asbestos, which has been dumped on the site over the last year or so.

The clean-up operation under way at Ellis’s Yard, Ballyvolane, Cork, yesterday. There are some 200 tonnes of waste illegally dumped on the site, including five tonnes of asbestos. Picture: David Keane

Previous clean-ups here over the last decade have cost more than €500,000. This operation, which could take two weeks, will cost at least €53,000 with tens of thousands more being spent on fencing and CCTV cameras.

Licence plates of those involved in suspected dumping here have been passed to gardaí and investigations are under way. Any evidential material found on the site during the clean-up will be handed over to the authorities.

While local residents welcomed the clean-up, they said the city council must make a decision soon on the future of the site amid fears dumping could start again.

There have also been calls on the council to source emergency government funding to address the appalling conditions on the adjoining Spring Lane Traveller halting site.

Fears are also growing that a similar dumping situation could be emerging next to a Traveller group housing scheme opposite Apple’s European headquarters in Hollyhill.