Ground water is being contaminated from an illegal 170,000t dump on CRH lands at Blessington, Co Wicklow, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed yesterday. Last week, the EPA decided to refuse a licence to CRH for the remediation of the landfill site, which is near two housing estates at Blessington. However, CRH has 28 days to lodge an objection to this decision.
Yesterday, EPA director general, Mary Kelly, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Local Government that while contamination had been discovered at the CRH site, which had mainly been used for the dumping of construction and demolition waste, there was no immediate threat to the water supply of the housing estates.
Dr Kelly said large-scale illegal dumping took place in Co Wicklow between 1997 and 2002 and there was also illegal movement of waste to the North and overseas.
