20 February 2004
Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment has established a team of specialist officers to tackle a growing problem of illegal waste dumping. Dozens of unauthorised dumps have been created on farmland, mostly taking rubbish from the Irish Republic.
A spokesman for the DoE said that the review team had been set up in response to a series of complaints lodged with it by local authorities.
He said that, typically, businesses in the Republic paid local contractors to dispose of waste legitimately, but contractors could earn as much as £5,000 per lorry load by avoiding taxes and charges in Ireland.
It is thought that some contractors have earned millions of pounds out of their illegal operations. A BBC report claimed that council officials who have tried to question lorry drivers involved in illegal tipping have been threatened, or even beaten up.
One illegal dump at Garvagh contains 100,000 tonnes of waste, including food products. Other items reported as illegally dumped include chemical and hospital wastes.
The DoE said it would cost millions of pounds to clean up the sites.
PFfeb2004
