EVIDENCE of long-term illegal dumping has been uncovered at a site in Inishowen granted a waste permit by Donegal County Council, it has been claimed.
An RTÉ programme last night suggested it involved large quantities of waste being buried and burned close to a quarry near Moville.
RTÉ Investigates – Ireland’s Wild Waste carried out an analysis of how each county in the Republic deals with waste management.
Using information supplied by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Republic’s Department of Housing, journalists said they found large amounts of household and commercial waste being disposed of on land behind a quarry at Terryrone.
The quarry was operated by Davey Transport Ltd which also had a permit to collect and sort “skip waste” at the facility.
However, the programme discovered rubbish buried in clusters under vegetation on waste land behind the quarry, with an analysis indicating that it dated from 2008 up to the present.
Following complaints seven years ago that rubbish was being burned at the site up to four nights a week, the EPA ordered Donegal County Council to investigate the facility.
However, the council said at that time it found no evidence to back up the complaints.
After new information – collected for last night’s programme – was presented to the EPA, the council was again ordered to inspect the facility.
The council told RTÉ it had since issued warning letters to Davey Transport Ltd over the type of waste being handled at the site.
It declined yesterday to comment until after last night’s broadcast.
However, a spokeswoman told the RTÉ programme that it was carrying out inspections at the site and adjacent lands along with other agencies.
She said: “Donegal County Council has independently and in collaboration with other agencies undertaken regular on-site inspections and viewed records of the tonnages of waste received and transferred from the facility.”
The EPA also confirmed that, on foot of the information passed on by the RTÉ programme, it understood the council was investigating the facility.
The Irish News contacted Davey Transport Ltd over the claims in the programme but no response was issued.
