Any liability arising from the disposal of hospital waste at a site in Co Wicklow is an issue for the producers of the waste, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Aidan Walsh SC, for Dublin Waste, its managing director Louis Moriarty and his wife Eileen, said if any liability attached to his clients regarding the dumping, which was denied, it related only to 400 tonnes of some 8,000 tonnes of material dumped at the site in Coolnamadra, Donard, near the Glen of Imaal.
Counsel said his clients knew nothing about the unauthorised dumping as it had been done by a sub-contractor - sacked when it was discovered.
Wicklow County Council said 8,000 tonnes were dumped on the two-acre site at Coolnamadra in an area of natural beauty. This hazardous material included blood-stained bandages, used incontinence pads, bodily fluids, scalpels, needles, laboratory waste and gas cylinders.
The council contends it will cost €20 million to clear the site.
The landowner, Mr Clifford Fenton, Swalcliffe Ltd trading as Dublin Waste, and Mr and Mrs Moriarty, are being sued by the council to recover the costs.
Mr James Connolly SC, for the council, told the court yesterday the hazardous waste concerned had percolated into the other waste material at the site.
Mr Walsh said his clients' case was that any liability arising from the disposal of the material concerned should be a matter for the waste producers, the Mater Misercordiae Hospital and the Blackrock Clinic.
Mr Fenton said in an affidavit about 11 truck-loads of hospital waste was dumped on his land in October 2001. At no stage did he know it was hazardous waste. Mr Justice O'Sullivan will rule today on whether previous complaints from the Environmental Protection Agency about Dublin Waste should be permitted into evidence.