Midlands’ most wanted: An adult nappy dumper
Council on hunt for culprit who dumps dirty nappies on a weekly basis at top scenic spots
A LOCAL authority is on the hunt for an illegal dumper dubbed ‘adult nappy guy’ who discarded large quantities of dirty nappies at scenic sites across the county.
Westmeath County Council said it has been battling dumping on a weekly basis, with one individual believed to be responsible for two ‘particularly bad’ incidents involving large quantities of soiled adult nappies. The council said it had
‘The poor warden will have to sift through it’
been forced to sift through the waste by hand to see if there was anything that would help identify the perpetrator, a task it described as ‘deeply unpleasant’ as well as being a ‘health risk’ for staff involved.
Internal emails released under Freedom of Information reveal how council officials were determined to track down ‘adult nappy guy’ after a second dumping incident in January.
One email, dated January 16, said: ‘I was at Lough Sheelin… doing a wetland bird survey and sorry to have to report I spotted some recent dumping on council property at Sailor’s Garden, mostly soiled nappies.
‘My commiseration to the persons who have to clean that up!’ wrote an official from the National
Parks and Wildlife Service.
It later emerged a similar incident was reported near scenic Lough Owel earlier this year, where there was ‘large-scale dumping’ of dirty nappies.
One email said: ‘It looks like the adult nappy guy may have struck again in the north of the county. Could you follow up… and see if there is anything we could use. [Our colleague] is looking at how we could get a bit of social media interest in helping find the culprit(s) or at least letting them know we are vigilant.’
Another message said staff hoped the incident was not a ‘harbinger’ of what was to come this year. One email noted: ‘The poor community warden is going to have to sift through that lot for [identification material].’
Local authority officials also described how the dirty nappies were dumped at a picturesque spot right beside amenities used by locals and visitors.
The council’s community climate action officer told colleagues: ‘It is very scenic with views across into Cavan and back into Mullaghmeen Forest in Westmeath.
‘The items are dumped 10 yards from a picnic table, and right on the shoreline of the lake. They are contaminating both the wildlife in the area and the fisheries.’
The officer added: ‘Council staff had to sift through the rubbish by hand and will have to remove it by hand, causing risks to health.’
Westmeath County Council said the dumping at Lough Sheelin, on the border of Cavan, Meath and Westmeath – which attracts many visitors due to its biodiversity and wildlife – had been very damaging. The council said it resulted in a ‘costly clean-up’ which diverted funding from other essential services, as well as being a health hazard for staff forced to clean it up.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘Unfortunately, Westmeath County Council’s environment section receives reports about illegal dumping incidents on an almost weekly basis.
‘To combat the ongoing problem of illegal dumping, [our environment] staff continue to generate awareness around the damaging impacts of illegal dumping including the unlawful disposal of waste by unlicensed waste collectors.’