Wicklow County Council has asked the High Court to delay hearing a case in which it is seeking to have a number of parties it claims are responsible for a massive illegal dump in the west of the county forced to pay for the clean-up.
The council wants the case parked, until it has completed the clean-up of the site itself.
It is estimated this will take at least one year.
The dump, situated at Whitestown between Blessington and Baltinglass, contains over 200,000 tonnes of illegally disposed of rubbish.
The council is currently involved in a long-running legal action against the landowners and those allegedly responsible for the dumping, in which it is seeking to force them to remediate the land.
However, last month it emerged that the Department of the Environment, which has come under pressure from the European Commission to comply with waste management directives, had instructed the council to begin cleaning up the site.
In the High Court this morning, lawyers for the landowner, Brownfield Restoration Ireland, objected to the continuation of the case, which was due to resume in January.
Michael O'Donnell, JC for the company, argued that the council had effectively abandoned its proceedings.
He said they were being brought under Section 58 of the Waste Management Act, but the council now intends to clean up the site itself using powers under the Section 56 of the same act.
Mr O'Donnell said there was "no reality" in doing this as it was extremely contradictory for the council to change horses, enter the lands, restore them themselves and then recover the costs under Section 56 of the act, when for six years they have been fighting the case under an entirely different remedy which is mutually exclusive.
He also raised concerns that Brownfield, which has a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency to remediate the site, could be exposed to legal action if another party carries out the work.
Shane Murphy, SC for Dean Waste, argued that the proceedings should be adjourned until after the clean-up operation was complete.
He said there was a clash between Sections 56 and 58 of the Waste Management Act, and his clients had a real concern that if the case continues as planned, in parallel with the clean-up of the dump, it would touch on issues that are still before the courts.
He said remediation of the site would be carried out by entirely different experts to those that the council is relying upon in evidence during the current legal proceedings and in the interests of justice it would be better to adjourn the legal proceedings until after the clean-up is complete.
Lawyers for Wicklow County Council said they agreed that the case should be adjourned. James Connolly, SC for the council, said it accepted new information would emerge during the clean- up process and the court should have the best available information when deciding the liability for the costs of the remediation.
However, he also argued that nothing carried out under Section 56 of the act could or would prejudice the existing legal action.
He said under Section 56 of the act, action could not be taken to recover the costs of an environmental clean-up until the work had been carried out and so cleaning up the dump would not decide anything.
Mr Connolly also read into the record an affidavit from senior executive officer at the council, Philip Duffy.
In it, Mr Duffy said remediation of the dump is and always had been the primary concern of the council. Mr Duffy said given the views of the Department of the Environment, there was now a critical need to remediate the site.
Mr Duffy said the costs of the clean-up would be substantial and there was a concern that the parties to the action would not be in a position to meet them.
Mr Duffy said it was estimated that the initial exploratory works would take eight weeks and it was not clear how long the remediation itself would take, but it was difficult to see it completed in less than 12 months.
Mr Justice Daniel O'Keeffe adjourned the case until Friday, when he will hear further submissions.
