Galway city facing waste crisis after dump closes

Private waste disposal contractors are picketing the Poolboy Dump at Ballinasloe, Co Galway in an effort to have the site reopened to accept commercial refuse.

Minister for the Environment, Mr NoelDempsey

Management at the dump are refusing to accept any more commercial waste from Galway city from today, and hundreds of tonnes of rubbish are expected to lay uncollected in city streets.

Newly introduced Environmental Protection Agency guidelines recommended a cap on the total annual tonnage at Poolboy, reducing waste from 75,000 tonnes this year to 50,000 tonnes next year.

Ballinasloe Urban District Council reacted to the guidelines by imposing a ban on commercial waste from Galway city from today, and from Galway county (except the UDC area) from July 1st.

Waste contractors claim there is no alternative landfill site for waste in the county, and have called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to order that Poolboy dump be reopened until provision is made for waste in the area.

The Department declined to comment on the issue when contacted.

Galway was the scene of major argument last year over Department proposals to build an incinerator in the region. The Connacht waste-management plan was rejected by both Galway corporation and county council last year.

The Galway for a Safe Environment campaign is holding a protest rally in Galway next Saturday. Dr Conchúr Ó Brádaigh of GSE said the Minister should concentrate on waste reduction and recycling rather than incineration.

Yesterday Mr Noel Dempsey, in conjunction with his Northern Ireland counterpart Mr Sam Foster, launched a new reference manual for businesses "The Recycling Directory of Ireland" in which they said progress needs to be made in increasing the amount of waste recycled throughout the island of Ireland.

"A substantial increase in recycling rates is central to the pursuit of more sustainable waste management practice," Mr Dempsey said, adding he would shortly publish a Policy Statement on Waste Minimisation and Recycling.