[Press Release: August 8th, 2003]

Granting Roadstone a landfill licence at Blessington would be a travesty of justice says de Burca

Following an article in last Sunday's Business Post indicating that Cement Roadstone may apply for a landfill licence from the EPA for its site at Blessington on which up to 100,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste was discovered late last year, Green Party councillor Deirdre de Burca has claimed that if such a licence was granted, this would amount to a "travesty of justice".

De Burca has expressed her concern that official investigations into the illegally dumped waste on Roadstone's Blessington site have not yet yielded any information about who was responsible for the illegal activity. "It is unbelievable that we are discussing the possibility of Roadstone looking to have this site designated as a legal, and obviously very lucrative, landfill in West Wicklow when the extent of the company's own culpability with regard to the illegal activities on the site has not yet been definitively established" she says.

Councillor de Burca claims that she is not satisfied with the level of information that the elected representatives of Wicklow County Council are receiving about the investigations at the Roadstone site and she has suggested that the company may be receiving " kid glove" treatment from Wicklow County Council.

The Green Party councillor claims that while it will be an expensive operation to move the illegal waste from the Blessington site to a legal landfill, those who dumped the waste will have made a "small fortune" from it. She believes that those responsible for the illegal activities must be identified as a matter of priority and made to pay the cost of transferring the waste.

"We must send out a clear message that those who are involved in illegally dumping waste must be vigorously pursued and face heavy penalties" she says. "To do otherwise is to reward criminals for their activities and to leave local communities to suffer the consequences". Councillor de Burca has expressed her willingness to support any Blessington residents who wish to oppose possible plans by Roadstone to establish a legal landfill near the town.

For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org.