Omagh District Council has been fined a paltry £6,000, after pleading guilty on four counts relating to the illegal dumping of controlled waste at an area of land adjacent to the council owned playing fields at Strathroy. The Council had been under investigation by the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) for disposing of controlled waste without a waste management licence, and this month pleaded guilty to the charge of dumping between 29 April and 18 May 2005, under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1997/2778.
The Court heard that on 29 April, waste had been dumped at the Strathroy Road site without a waste management licence authorising the deposit and that on 9 and 18 May, controlled waste had been kept in or on the land without such a licence. A further charge of treating and disposing of waste by an unlicensed mobile plant was also admitted.
During the hearing, the Court accepted evidence presented that the waste material was mainly stones and rubble, which would be regarded as inert. A robust analysis and fingertip search of the composition of the material indicated that it did not contain any household or hazardous waste and therefore no risk to the environment. By way of additional reassurance, the Council has volunteered to monitor the site for a year.
