The Court of Appeal reduced fines imposed on Cavan County Council and Oxigen Environmental Limited for breaches of a waste licence linked to odours from the Corranure landfill in County Cavan. It quashed the original fines of €260,000 and €780,000 and imposed a fine of €50,000 on each appellant.
Both appellants had pleaded guilty to one count of disposing of waste otherwise than in accordance with a licence condition, contrary to the Waste Management Act 1996. The offences covered separate periods: the Council’s from 14 February to 30 September 2007, and Oxigen’s from 1 October 2007 to 14 February 2009. The Council held the landfill licence throughout; Oxigen was contracted to manage and operate the site during its period.
The case concerned condition 7.1 of the licence, which required the Council to ensure that odours from the landfill did not cause a nuisance on or near the facility. Environmental Protection Agency inspections recorded noxious odours, and the judgment said residents and landowners up to two kilometres from the site experienced significant interference with their amenities. The EPA received more than 1,400 complaints between 2007 and 2010.
The sentencing judge had fined each appellant €10,000 for every week in its respective period. On appeal, the companies argued that the fines were excessive and disproportionate, among other grounds. The prosecution had submitted that the odour problem was not addressed promptly until the EPA became involved, and that the operating landfill was generating waste-disposal fees.
The appeal court said the breach was a failure to prevent nuisance under a broad, result-based licence condition, rather than a deliberate breach of waste limits or an unlicensed disposal. It assessed the offence as low to medium in seriousness: no environmental damage was established, but many people were inconvenienced and experienced temporary effects on the enjoyment of their properties. The court also found that the companies had not been shown to profit from the breach, because the evidence did not establish a direct link between the nuisance and the waste-disposal income.
The court held that the original fines failed to give adequate weight to the appellants’ circumstances, including the Council’s investment in upgrading the site and its continuing maintenance costs. It also found no proper basis for imposing a much larger fine on Oxigen simply because it managed the site for longer, given its role as the Council’s day-to-day operating agent and its lack of responsibility for structural improvements.
The Court of Appeal allowed both appeals, quashed the original sentences and resentenced the appellants. It set the same €50,000 fine for each, saying this was proportionate, recognised the seriousness of the admitted breaches and served deterrence while accounting for the appellants’ circumstances and potential effects on others.