Rats, flies, fires, noise and obnoxious odours are among the problems faced by a group of people living near a dump in Ennis, Co Clare, Mr Justice Shanley was told in the High Court yesterday.
In an action against Clare County Council 14 people are claiming they are surrounded by the dump at Doora, Ennis and that it is growing larger and higher and creating an unhealthy and dangerous environment.
Mr John Rogers SC, for the residents, said he had photographs of dead, decomposing dogs in the open, and claimed the council was permitting the burial at the dump of between 850 and 900 dogs a year, or 17 per week.
People's homes were invaded by swarms of flies, which landed on food and on food preparation surfaces, counsel said. His clients had a constant fear of disease and it was difficult to allow children to play outdoors.
Mr Rogers said that originally 272 acres of land were abandoned to form "a flood plain" and minimise the flooding problems caused by the tidal Fergus river. In 1957 Ennis Urban District Council sought permission to use the flood plain for the dumping of domestic refuse.
In 1972 a health inspector found 16 fires burning at the dump, Mr Rogers said. In 1980 Doora dump was receiving 80 per cent of the county's waste and refuse.
A report at that time spoke of an area that could be filled to three or four feet in height. But dumping had increased to heights of over 20 feet.
The dump was spreading east so that his clients were effectively in the middle of it, Mr Rogers said. Another council report had said the need for a flood reservoir had diminished and that a further 50 acres could be used for dumping.
Mr Rogers said the parents of his clients had protested about the nuisance caused by this dump. This led to a decision in 1985 that dumping would cease in 1987.
But dumping was extended for another year because the council claimed it could not get an alternative site. That was exactly a decade ago.
Mr Rogers said his clients complained that down the years, and particularly in the 1990s, wide areas of the face of the dump were left exposed. There was no covering of the refuse.
Since 1995 his clients had become terrified. They had taken High Court proceedings to have the dump closed but the court order, regrettably, did not have the effect of controlling the nuisance.
The residents are seeking damages and orders to restrain the council from using the land as a dump and directing it to rehabilitate the area or, alternatively, to stop extending the dump east wards.
In its defence, Clare County Council denies that the dump is impeding the function of mitigating flooding, that the use of the lands for dumping is unlawful, that the dump is causing a nuisance and that there has been any annoyance or loss to the residents.
The council also claims that the residents' claim for personal injuries arising out of any alleged nuisance is statute barred.
The hearing continues.