Hauliers could be dumping over 1,000 tonnes of illegal waste into theNorth each week, writes Liam Reid
The three 90-foot long trailers stand in a yard on the Northern Ireland side of the Border, along with an articulated lorry cab. Like many a small haulier's gravel yard, it is neither tidy nor pretty.
However unlike the vast majority of hauliers, this yard has acted as a base for one of the largest illegal cross-Border dumping operations of recent years.
These trailers have criss-crossed the Republic, ferrying waste from as far away as Cork, and bringing it to various sites in Northern Ireland.
The yard belongs to one of a small number of haulage businesses, based in Northern Ireland, who have been involved in the highly profitable illegal dumping scam which has seen thousands of tonnes dumped in illegal sites across the North.
The waste is believed to have come from almost every county in the Republic.
At present there are more than a dozen sites under investigation by Northern Ireland's Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), and an additional unknown number that have been uncovered by local authorities in the North. The service believes there are more sites yet to be uncovered.
The EPA and gardaí have also launched a joint investigation to identify the source of the waste in the Republic, and are working closely with the EHS on the inquiry.
The EHS, which took over responsibility for waste enforcement in January from the local authorities, has now set up a dedicated unit to target illegal dumping.
The dumping of waste from the Republic is a major problem, which the Northern Ireland authorities are extremely concerned about, according to Mr Paddy Murphy, a spokesman for the EHS and the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment.
"We're still trying to get a shape on it," he says. "What is horrifying is that people are handing over their waste to people to dispose of in good faith, and these waste pirates are taking over and bringing it here to dump illegally." According to Mr Murphy, the Northern Ireland authorities have been in correspondence with the Department of the Environment, and the North's Environment Minister, Ms Angela Smith, is to meet the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, to discuss the ongoing problem.
EHS also believes that a large amount of waste from the Republic is also passing through Northern Ireland, and on to England and Scotland where it is being landfilled.
According to Mr Murphy there is anecdotal evidence that the waste is travelling on false documentation into Northern Ireland and is being passed of as waste originating there, before being transported to Scotland.
Meanwhile local authorities on both sides of the Border have been working away quietly on the issue.
Staff from the various councils believe they have identified the main players in the illegal dumping racket.
Indeed council officials have been playing a game of cat and mouse with the illegal operators for a number of years.
Unlike the collectors, who can be traced through the paper trail, the hauliers would have to be discovered in the act of dumping.
Some local authorities such as Monaghan County Council, have gone as far as to impound some of their vehicles in order to curb their activities.
The racket centres around four hauliers, all based close to the Border in Northern Ireland. The system is quite simple.
They supply 90-foot ejector trailers to licensed waste collectors in the Republic, leaving them there for a number of days. These waste collectors fill these trailers with up to 40 tonnes of waste.
A driver is then dispatched to the Republic, collects the full trailer and brings it back to Northern Ireland, where it is dumped. The movement usually takes place late at night.
The fees charged to the waste collectors in the Republic are believed to be about €70 per tonne, and sometimes as low as €30 a tonne.
A waste contractor in the Republic could expect in excess of €300 and sometimes higher for every tonne of commercial waste collected, leaving a considerable profit if they find an illegal outlet for their waste, as opposed to a legal landfill where they would expect to pay up to €240 for every tonne of waste disposed.
Each of the hauliers have a number of articulated lorry cabs and more than eight trailers each. Combined, the four have the capacity to ship over 1,000 tonnes of waste into Northern Ireland each week.
Conservative estimates put the average amount of waste dumped illegally each week at over 400 tonnes, or €28,000 in revenue for the hauliers. The waste operators in the south are saving over €40,000 from the same amount of illegal activity.
While there have been mounting rumours of paramilitary involvement, the owners of the four haulage businesses are known to local gardaí and the PSNI. One has a conviction for stealing in England.
All four are suspected of involvement in smuggling in the past and in fuel laundering.
"They are not paramilitaries, but they have used it as a flag of convenience in the past, and they would have links to some republican organisations," according to one local authority source.
The men involved in the legal racket are also considered to be dangerous. They have recently threatened officials who are investigating them.
Anton McCabe, a freelance journalist based in Omagh who has uncovered a lot of the illegal activity in recent months, has also been threatened.
Local authorities have also been using police and Garda escorts when targeting their activities.
Despite the fact that the hauliers are known to the authorities, the fragmented nature of waste enforcement in the Republic has seen two of them receiving waste collection permits.
One of the permits was issued in the Connaught waste region, while another received a permit for the Dublin region. The permit was granted based on false information provided by the haulier that his trucks were allowed to dispose of material at the Scotstown landfill and bring centre in Co Monaghan.
Monaghan County Council, which operates the facility, has given no such permission to the haulier. Officials are now trying to establish whether any checks were carried out on the haulier by the Dublin local authorities before the permit was granted.