EPA wins injunction over landfill
Monday, 22 February 2010 13:10The Environmental Protection Agency has secured a High Court injunction preventing the operators of a controversial landfill near Naas in Co Kildare from accepting further deposits.
The EPA had argued the landfill was causing environmental pollution through the emission of serious odours, which had led to more than 300 complaints from the public in a matter of months.
The Kerdiffstown landfill near Naas is operated by Neiphin Trading - a company associated with the major firm A1 Waste.
EPA inspectors found strong odours, from landfill gas and composting activities, were emanating from two sites on the facility.
One local resident said the smells had been so severe they forced him to vomit on a number of occasions.
Neiphin Trading argued an injunction would 'effectively shut down the business', making 106 employees redundant, when the company had plans to tackle the problems.
However, today Mr Justice Sean Ryan granted an injunction to the EPA, saying he did not accept this would put the company into a condition of extreme financial peril.
He said that potential devastation had to be weighed against the public interest to be free from environmental pollution.
The EPA is taking separate court action against Neiphin Trading and others over the illegal disposal of 1.1m tonnes of waste in a separate part of the Kerdiffstown landfill.
