EPA asked to withdraw northern waste

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been asked to take back nearly 5,000 tonnes of commercial and domestic waste created in the Republic but dumped in Northern Ireland.

Agencies in Northern Ireland said they would also look for evidence to prosecute any businesses or hauliers from the Republic involved in bringing the waste across the border.
The bio-degradable waste was found on a Co. Fermanagh farm in 2003 after an investigation by Northern Ireland police, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) and Fermanagh District Council.

Due to the find, the farm owner, David Edwin Allingham, was sentenced to nine months in jail for letting his land be used for dumping. He admitted being paid up to £8,000 to accept the material. The waste had impacted on the local ground water.
The judge in the case said the cost of waste disposal south of the border may have led to dumping. Ann Blacker of the North’s Environment and Heritage Service said they still want to prosecute the businesses which sent the waste to Northern Ireland.

The EPA said it was up to local authorities to accept responsibility. It is thought that the waste came from Cork. Cork County Council said it would take the issue very seriously if the waste originally came from its jurisdiction.