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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is receiving legal advice after Meath County Council refused to remove 16,500t of waste from farmland outside Trim in Co Meath.
Peadar Tóibín, leader of Aontú, raised the issue in the Dáil and alleged that the contractor who undertook the dumping was working under the supervision of Meath County Council at the time.
Tóibín said he had inspected the land and found “carcinogenic coal tar” along with pipes, tyres and other waste materials, adding that the council had conducted an investigation and concluded that the materials were used for “agricultural improvement”.
According to Tóibín, the EPA refused to accept this outcome and is now seeking legal advice on whether it can force the Council to remove the waste.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, the owner of the land said that he bought it in 2009 and was not informed by the previous owners that it had been used as a dumping ground for roadworks for the R158 Trim to Summerhill road.
“I realised that one field was about 2m higher than another and got a digger in to see what the problem was,” land owner Phillip Cantwell said.
“He dug up tonnes of tyres, tarmacadam and rubble. I thought it would be a simple thing to go to Meath County Council and have them remove the waste but they told me that I was now the legal holder of the land and the waste.”
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