GARDAÍ HAVE begun an investigation into suspected illegal dumping in Co Louth and are examining a pond containing what appears to be hazardous sludge linked to diesel laundering.
Yesterday morning a team of gardaí moved on to the site, which runs to 140 acres, and is close to the water treatment plant that serves Dundalk town.
A spokesman for Louth County Council said he wanted “to allay any fears of a threat to the water supply to Dundalk”. He said “the water abstraction for the treatment plant is at a higher point and there is no threat of any kind to the supply”. The council environmental staff walked the site yesterday and confirmed that water which had gathered at the bottom of a disused quarry appeared to contain the sludge from diesel laundering.
In all, the council has identified six different locations on the site where there is evidence of diesel sludge having been dumped.
Specifically it is trying to find out if barrels of the toxic residue could have been buried under ground.
The site is at Cavanhill near Dundalk and is accessed from a track off a narrow country lane and is shielded from the public road by trees.
The council confirmed it has retained environmental consultants to advise it in assessing the site. It is boring trial holes and taking samples of the soil and water to test.
A spokesman for the gardaí in Dundalk confirmed the site was a crime scene and that a team of gardaí was examining it.