The High Court has ordered John Prendergast to stop accepting, disposing of or recovering waste at a farm in Millpark, Knockbridge, unless a valid waste permit or licence is in force. The order takes immediate effect, the court said in a judgment delivered on 8 July 2021.
Mr Justice Barr found that Prendergast, a part-owner and occupier of the lands, had operated an unlawful waste reception facility. The court was satisfied that substantial quantities of waste were stored there and that the activity had intensified between 2016 and 2018. It found the waste posed a threat to the environment and human health, including through the risk of groundwater and surface water contamination reaching the River Fane, a drinking water source for the greater Dundalk area.
Louth County Council had sought orders under the Waste Management Acts to stop the activity and require environmental assessment and remediation. Its evidence included inspections, technical reports and laboratory tests. The judgment records findings of mixed household, construction and commercial waste, with asbestos and oily waste among substances identified in samples. Council consultants estimated that about 56,500 cubic metres of commercial, municipal and construction waste had been brought to the site between November 2016 and October 2018.
Prendergast alleged that the council had deposited waste on his land over many years, including material from work at Stephenstown Pond. The council disputed that account. The judge rejected Prendergast’s unsworn evidence, preferring sworn evidence that material dredged from the pond had been spread on a neighbouring farmer’s land. The court accepted that about 1,000 tonnes of road verge material was placed on Prendergast’s land with his consent during road widening works in 2002 and 2003, and found it separate from the waste identified in 2018.
The court also rejected the argument that Prendergast’s limited means made remediation orders unjust. It said the polluter should bear the cost of remedying the effects of illegal activity.
The court granted the requested prohibitory order and ordered measures under sections 57 and 58, in the terms of paragraph 2 of the council’s amended motion. It did not set deadlines for those steps at this stage: the parties were invited to make submissions on the time periods. The court proposed that Prendergast pay the council’s costs, but allowed two weeks for written submissions on the final order, costs and any other matters before settling the order.