Operators of illegal dumps to face costly clean-up

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche will today announce new "very severe" regulations for the remediation of illegal dumps.

The rules will, he said, make it unprofitable for anyone to own or operate an unlicensed dump. They will require the removal of all but inert materials, as well as the treatment of any contaminated soils.

The move is likely to cost landowners a multiple of the amount of money paid to them for accepting the waste in the first place, rendering illegal dumps unprofitable. In addition to the cost of removing the waste from the ground, the landowner or contractor must also pay for its correct disposal.

In the case of some of the larger dumps so far uncovered, the costs are likely to run into several million euro. Mr Roche said his decision to impose "the most severe regulations" on the remediation of uncovered dumps was taken to convince landowners and hauliers that "it will be very, very difficult for them to make a profit".

Mr Roche said he took his decision after it became apparent that the high penalties in law for running an illegal dump were not being imposed. Under existing legislation the courts have the power to fine landowners up to €15 million and impose jail sentences of up to 15 years.

Mr Roche said the fines so far imposed had been disappointingly small, while adding it would be inappropriate of him to influence a court or to interfere with the independence of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

"But I can impose the most severe regulations which result in very severe costs to those obdurate individuals who have difficulty in accepting reality," said the Minister. "They will be fully accountable. I am going to make it very, very difficult for them, very, very unprofitable," he added.

The new regulations may also affect a large number of former municipal dumps where councils for decades simply discarded municipal waste on the outskirts of towns and villages.

In the Minister's own home town of Bray in Co Wicklow, one such dump on land north of Bray Harbour is falling into the sea.

Located in the jurisdictions of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Bray Town Council, it is likely to cost millions to remediate if all but inert material is to be removed. Town councils around the State are expected to be in a similar position.

Speaking to The Irish Times at the weekend, the Minister said he expected the new regulations to be ready for publication today.

He said he had been angered that people in new homes were often "living right up beside an illegal dump" with its attendant health hazards, while they were being told that "nothing could be done. Well now there will be something that can be done," he said.