Date set for Ballyguyroe legal case against council

The legal action being taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against Cork County Council for issues at the Ballyguyroe Landfill Site near Kildorrery is due in court on Friday, 13th May. The environmental monitoring agency cited ‘ineffective management’ of landfill gas and landfill leachate at the site as a concern.

As previously reported, the EPA’s statement on the management of the former landfill site is critical of the council’s management of the facility.

“The attitude of licensee is poor, and it appears the licensee has insufficient knowledge of the licensed site, landfill operations, and the general requirements of the EPA licence,” the EPA said.

The six- hectare landfill site, divided into seven ‘cells’, was operational from 1990 until September 2001, taking in 230,000 tonnes of waste. Ballyguyroe Landfill site has been on the National Priority Site List since the first half of 2021 and the EPA say that ‘no significant progress had been made’ since it was put on the list. One concern the EPA have are for the “consistently” excessive levels of leachate in many of the landfill cells.

At the close of the first quarter of 2022, four sites are on the National Priority List, three of which are in Cork including Ballyguyroe Landfill, and the other in Kildare. The National Priority Sites List is produced by the EPA on a quarterly basis based on data for the previous 6 months.

In May 2021, Cork County Council was fined €4,250 for six breaches at its Raffeen Landfill Site in East Cork. All six offences were committed in November and December 2019, and included one instance of discharging landfill leachate to the Monkstown Creek Estuary. Another two charges also related to the storage and collection of leachate.

In October 2020, the council was also found guilty and fined for breaches at its East Cork Landfill site, and several of these charges also related to the incorrect management of leachate at the site. The total fine was €17,500.