This article is from page 12 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A CLARE local authority found to have illegally dumped waste on local authority land last May has been forced to pay out more than €2,500.
Clare County Council ordered Kilrush Town Council to pay €2,580 arising from the incident.
Rubbish made up of soil, stone and various wastes was discovered by a member of the public on council lands on the Cooraclare Road across from the Teagasc Office last summer.
The waste material, gathered from a community clean up of a back lane had been separated into the various waste streams and brought to the licensed waste transfer station at Lisdeen.
However, as some of the waste was mixed with soil and stone, it could not be accepted into Lisdeen’s compactor unit.
Two trailer loads were then brought back to council land in Kilrush and inappropriately disposed of, contrary to local authority policy.
The waste was removed from the town council lands and disposed of at the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff Beg within a working week of the council becoming aware of the matter.
Director of Services with Clare County Council, Ger Dollard, told The Clare People that the sum of €2,580 was made up of the €125 fine under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, the administration cost of the incident to Clare County Council and the cost of disposing of the waste.
He said the fine was imposed “having regard to the prompt and appropriate action taken by Kilrush Town Council to address the issue”.
Kilrush Town Council has conducted an investigation into how the waste was inappropriately disposed of and has acknowledged that the incident should not have happened in the first instance.
The council’s policy on waste has since been communicated to employees at all grades and levels.
“The local authority views the illegal disposal of waste as inexcusable considering there are four recycling centres, including two transfer stations, 54 recycling bring banks and a central waste management facility located in County Clare,” said Mr Dollard.
Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), Chairperson of the Environment Strategic Policy Committee welcomed Clare County Council’s handling of the case.
“This incident demonstrates Clare County Council’s commitment to following up on all instances of illegal dumping.
We need to continue to seriously tackle such illegal activity and it is imperative that the local authorities set an example in this regard,” Councillor McCarthy added.