A haulier who sued environmental authorities over the detention of three lorries taking waste from Dublin to Belfast has been awarded £65,000. The High Court in Belfast ruled Patrick Laverty's vehicles were illegally taken from him by officials who were concerned about a landfill destination. Mr Laverty successfully sued the Environmental Heritage Service (EHS) for illegally interfering with his property.
His lorries were stopped near Banbridge in September 2004, and were taken to facilities where the waste was removed and examined without anyone acting for Mr Laverty, who owns RGC International near Ballymena, being permitted to be present. His legal advisors were later informed by phone that the vehicles were detained by enforcement powers under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1997/2778. The lorries had been transporting waste from two business premises in the South Dublin County Council area to Amber Merchants Ltd, trading as Waste Beater Unit at Kennedy Way Industrial Estate, Belfast.
In his judgement, Lord Justice Higgins said, "It was suggested that Waste Beater recycles as much as it can and sells this on and the residue is sent to landfill sites. The authorities in Northern Ireland suspected that Waste Beater was a sham concern and that in fact it provided a landfill site for waste from the Republic at a cheaper rate than would apply in that jurisdiction and was not authorised to do so."
However, when the waste was returned to Dublin for inspection it was found to comply with types permitted there and could be processed at a modern recycling facility. Checks on Waste Beater's premises also confirmed that they are capable of accepting and processing the materials recovered from the three vehicles.
