Wicklow County Council is investigating a third major illegal dump in west Wicklow, The Irish Times has learned. But the location of this dump, which is believed to be even larger than the two already found, is not being revealed at this stage.
Senior council officials are being even more discreet than usual because they do not want media publicity to jeopardise their inquiries into the background and identities of those involved.
A former council chairman, Mr Tommy Cullen (Labour), said yesterday the dumps publicly identified so far, at Whitestown and Coolnamadra near the Glen of Imaal, are "the tip of an iceberg" and much more remained to be revealed.
"The real motherload of this waste is deposited in disused quarries in the Blessington area, where dumping has been going on for a decade and no action was taken to stop it," he said. "Nobody knows what sort of waste is in these dumps."
The volume could even exceed the "hundreds of thousands of tonnes" deposited in Whitestown. And if hospital waste or other hazardous wastes had been dumped in these quarries, it would represent a "pollution timebomb" for Blessington reservoir.
The European Commission has confirmed it may add the illegal dumps in Co Wicklow to a legal case it is taking against the Government for its failure to comply with EU waste framework directives, and its own Waste Management Act of 1996.
An investigation by The Irish Times has established that one of the companies involved in illegal dumping in Co Wicklow, Dean Waste Ltd (trading as A1 Waste) made a pre-tax profit of £1.97 million (€2.5 million) on a turnover of £4.97 million in the last financial year.
Based on the current charge of £80 a tonne at Fingal County Council's Baleally landfill, a truck carrying 25 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste would have to pay £2,000 to deposit its load. But it could cost as little as £100 a truck to dump at a disused quarry.
One of those who drove truckloads of waste to Whitestown was Mr John Mullins jnr, a son of the county council's overseer for the area, whose home is not far from the illegal dump. His father, Mr John Mullins snr, has been interviewed by council officials.
Altogether, the council is investigating nearly 100 illegal dump sites in "the Garden of Ireland", including some which may contain substantial quantities of commercial and industrial waste and, possibly, more "healthcare risk waste" from hospitals.
