News

Forensic experts sift through illegal waste

Thursday, 22 November 2001 20:39

Forensic experts have begun examining hospital waste found at an illegal dumpsite in County Wicklow. The experts plan to take away samples of the waste for further examination.

Details of the exact nature of the dump, and how hazardous the waste is, will not be known until the examination has been completed. However, it is understood to include discarded theatre gowns and masks.

Disused bandages and swabs have also been reported in the debris, as well as patients' private medical records. Earlier, Wicklow County Council said a thorough examination of the site, at Whitestown near Baltinglass, would be carried out as a matter of urgency.

The dumpsite is thought to cover about ten acres of land. This would make it the largest such illegal dumping site found. A spokesperson for Wicklow County Council said the area had been sealed off.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the tasks of finding out how the waste got to the site, and finding and prosecuting those responsible, now belong to Wicklow County Council.

About a month ago, a similar dump was found in County Wicklow's Glen of Imaal. The Glen of Imaal site contained body fluid bags and used hospital bandages.

On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Green Party's Trevor Sargent called for a review of the way hospital waste contracts are issued. His said that the policy of issuing national tenders was partly to blame for the illegal dumping problem.