A case of an illegal dump in north Cork, involving two north Cork men and State forestry board Coillte, has been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court, after a judge in Mallow said it was too serious to be heard at District Court level.
Landowner, Mr John Casey, Rockchapel, Co Cork, and Paul Kealy, Kealy's Wheelies Ltd, Banteer, Co Cork and counsel for Coillte, were before Judge Michael Patwell yesterday at Mallow District Court.
Cork County Council has taken the action under the Waste Management Act, 1996 and alleges that Mr Kealy was responsible for a "superdump" located a mile off the Newmarket to Rockchapel road, which was operated illegally. The other two defendants are accused of holding the waste on their land.
All three defendants are contesting the allegations, which include operating a dump without a license, transporting waste without a permit and knowingly allowing waste to be disposed of on property without a license.
Defence counsel for Coillte, yesterday stressed that the State forestry board will vehemently deny any knowledge of what was being disposed of on its land. The council is seeking to ensure all three defendants bear the costs of the clean up of the dump, which was discovered early last year.
An engineer with the council, Mr Billy O'Sullivan, told the court he visited the sites at Rockchapel on February 28th, 2002, in the presence of gardaí, after being alerted by another council official who was watching the sites.
Photographs were produced in court showing a truck about to dump a trailerload of refuse onto the forestry land and a tracked waste compactor driving over a pile of rubbish.
"I just don't see this as a minor matter", Judge Patwell said upon viewing the photographs, adding that the images were "deplorable, deeply shocking and very, very serious".
The judge said if the case was proven it would be most shocking and he couldn't deal with it, given the small penalties he's allowed to impose. The maximum possible fine in the District Court is €1, 900.
"If what I see on these photos is proved to me, I don't see how I could deal with it with the penalties I am allowed under the Act", Judge Patwell said, formally refusing jurisdiction in the matter. The case will go before the Circuit Court where a fine of up to €10 million can be imposed if the defendant's are convicted.