The latest illegal dump under investigation in Co Wicklow may contain as many as 2,000 drums of hazardous or toxic commercial acids, including sulphuric acid, The Irish Times has learned.
The drums are believed to have been dumped years ago in a sand-and-gravel quarry at the entrance to the Glen of Imaal in west Wicklow, not far from the illegal dump already discovered at Whitestown.
Known locally as Stephenson's Quarry, the site of 10 to 15 acres is on the bank of a tributary of the River Slaney, which is known to be a prime spawning ground for Ireland's diminishing stocks of wild salmon.
Wicklow County Council has not yet established the scale or nature of the dumping that went on there, but one source said that if the site did contain anything like 2,000 barrels of acid it would be "very dangerous".
This estimate, which came from local sources, is being investigated by environmental consultants for the council. They have carried out some survey work and a preliminary forensic examination.
"Nothing has been proven yet because there is a big job of excavation to be done," the source said. Even the task of excavating the site to find the buried waste could itself be hazardous because of the dangers posed by unstable ground.
Mounds or earth on the site are up to 40 metres high, which means that excavations would have to be carried out in phases. Only then will it be possible to determine the scale of dumping of toxic chemicals at the quarry.
The condition of the acid drums is not known. If they are still intact, the dump would not represent a major threat to public health or the environment. But if they are corroded, leachate from the acids would be a serious hazard.
Senior county council officials have declined to comment on the matter because it is still under investigation and they fear publicity might jeopardise their inquiries into the background and identities of those involved in the operation.
Mr Frank Corcoran, waste spokesman for An Taisce, said he would not be surprised if drums of hazardous wastes turned up in Co Wicklow because do much of these wastes had "gone missing in Ireland in recent past".
Last July, in publishing its national hazardous waste management strategy, the Environmental Protection Agency said just over 98,000 tonnes of the 327,000 tonnes of hazardous wastes generated annually goes unreported.
The Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent TD, said it was "impossible to reconcile" the concern expressed by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, about illegal dumping with his "inexplicable delay" in regulating private waste contractors.
"Why has Minister Dempsey dragged his heels for four and a half years before finally introducing draft waste collection permit regulations only last month - regulations that were provided for under the 1996 Waste Management Act?", he asked.
Members of Wicklow County Council, attending a council estimates meeting yesterday, criticised the fact that neither the gardai nor the EPA have been formally asked to help in the criminal investigation of the illegal dumps.
Wicklow councillor and Labour spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, said she was "now very seriously concerned" about the ability of the council to handle the investigation. She said the latest find had not yet been investigated fully by the council because it did not have the capacity to deal with the number of emerging sites.
The Fianna Fβil TD for Wicklow, Mr Dick Roche, said he had been reporting incidents of unauthorised dumping in east and west Wicklow to the council going back 10 years. It was, he said, a tribute to the "wind of change" in the council.
