The High Court has found that Wicklow County Council is liable in principle under waste legislation for dumping waste at the Whitestown quarry site, and identified two breaches of European environmental law in the site’s condition. The court has not yet decided whether to order further remediation or what that work should involve; those questions are to be considered in the next stage of the proceedings.
In a judgment delivered on 12 May 2017, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys estimated that the council dumped at least 38,800 tonnes at the site between 1979 and 2001, directly or through contractors. He found that the material included substantial quantities of non-inert waste and some hazardous waste. The estimate was described as very conservative.
The site at Whitestown, in West Wicklow, had operated as a large illegal dump from about 1979. The council’s remediation works removed 16,479.8 tonnes, but the judgment said at least 250,000 tonnes remained on site, representing a minimum of 93% of the illegally dumped waste. The council’s work included removing waste from one zone, processing it and returning material it considered inert. Most waste in another zone and all waste in a third remained underground.
The judge found that waste was in direct contact with groundwater, at least for short periods, and that the site had no bottom liner or geomembrane. He held that these circumstances breached EU requirements on groundwater protection and landfill containment. The consequences, if any, were reserved for Module II, where scientific evidence about current environmental risk is to be considered. A dispute over whether hazardous waste was improperly mixed during processing was also left for that stage.
The judgment rejected allegations that the council acted in bad faith when it decided to use statutory powers to remediate the site, or that senior council manager Edward Sheehy joined or covered up a proposed commercial remediation venture. The judge preferred Sheehy’s evidence to that of consultant and authorised officer Donal Ó Laoire, whom he found not credible on the disputed evidence. Ó Laoire accepted that he had been part of a group seeking to profit from remediation while working for the council. The court found that Sheehy had vetoed the venture over procurement, conflict-of-interest and risk concerns.
The court held that historic dumping could be addressed under the statutory injunction procedure and that the council could be liable as a dumper. It also held that the council could in principle face liability for unlawful waste handling during remediation if environmental pollution were established. Whether that basis warrants relief remains undecided.
The judgment also made procedural directions in two linked cases. Dean Waste was removed as a plaintiff from the 2008 proceedings, which are to proceed to Module II. Applications concerning adding Rockbury Ventures and re-entering the 2005 proceedings against Swalcliffe were postponed until relevant parties could be notified. The application to strike Brownfield from the 2005 case was deferred pending those steps and any related Rockbury application.