A WICKLOW businessman has been fined €1 million for putting the drinking water in Blessington at risk of contamination by illegally dumping industrial waste.
John Healy (67), a married father with three sons, who owns Blessington Plant Hire and also owned Blue Bins Ltd, collected waste from local companies before dumping it over a four-year period on a seven-acre site called Dillonsdown at the Roadstone (Dublin) Ltd site in Blessington.
Healy, Crosscool Harbour, Blessington, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to disposing of waste at Roadstone in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution and to disposing of it without a licence under the Waste Management Act, 1996, between January 1st, 1997, and October 31st, 2001.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said the court accepted that Healy had been “by no means” the only person involved in this widespread illegal dumping operation and that it had been acknowledged that his involvement was only over a small area of the site. She accepted he had mainly dumped non- hazardous waste.
Judge Delahunt said the only reason Healy had engaged in this enterprise was for monetary gain and he had done so with disregard to the local environment, resulting in an entire site being remediated “at great expense”.
Donal O’Leary, an independent environmental consultant who assessed the site, said he found “no engineered or probable natural barrier” between the waste and the ground water.
This ground water was the drinking water source for homes and businesses in Blessington and Mr O’Leary said he found contaminants in it in excess of standard drinking water guidelines. The contaminants were consistent with what would have seeped from the waste dumped on the site.
Det Sgt Gerry McGrath told prosecuting counsel, Eanna Mulloy SC, that gardaí received a complaint from Wicklow County Council in August 2001 after litter warden Bill Ryan thought it suspicious that a substantial amount of waste had been dumped at the Roadstone site.
Gardaí were able to trace materials dumped back to local companies that were served by Blue Bins Ltd. Healy, questioned by gardaí, admitted to running Blue Bins but denied any involvement in illegal dumping at the site, until he made frank admissions a year later following five separate Garda interviews.
Det Sgt McGrath said Healy had denied responsibility at first because he was in fear of being associated with much-publicised allegations in the local and national media at the time, in relation to dumping of hazardous hospital waste at the Roadstone site.
Healy admitted he never asked permission to dump the waste, which he said equated to 2,000-2,500 tonnes per year. He saw no harm in what he was doing because it was not hazardous material and he believed the amounts dumped were relatively small.
Det Sgt McGrath described Healy as a respected man in the local community who had been in the waste management business since the early 1990s. He agreed with defence counsel Shane Murphy SC that the site was open and many people had access to it. He also agreed that 12 out of 14 people, including senior staff at local councils, were interviewed by gardaí during the investigation and later cautioned as they were also suspected of dumping illegally at the site.
Det Sgt McGrath accepted a suggestion from Mr Murphy that before 1996, when it was not illegal to dump, “it was almost customary practice for people to deposit material on the land”.
Cecil Shine, a geologist and defence witness, told Mr Murphy that he had assessed the site and concluded that the dry industrial waste Healy claimed he dumped there would have had a “relatively low risk” of polluting the lands, plants, animals and water at the site but as it was not natural material it would have affected the soil.
Mr Murphy asked Judge Delahunt to accept that Healy was not part of “an enormous commercial enterprise” transporting vast amounts of waste from around the country and dumping it in Wicklow. He said Healy showed remorse, embarrassment and shame for his actions, having led a blameless commercial life. He had sold land and had set aside €300,000 to offer the court.