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Dallat: Fines for illegal dumping no deterrent

SDLP Environment spokesperson John Dallat MLA said fines for illegal dumping of waste must reflect the full cost of clean-up and exceed the cost of legal disposal if they are to act as a deterrent.

Thu 26th November

Speaking after a meeting of the Assembly Environment Committee he said: “The NI Environmental Agency reckons that a quarter of a million tonnes of waste from the south have been illegally dumped across the north. Clean-up of the first two sites with 14,000 tonnes will cost about £250 a tonne, although the Dublin authorities will pay 80% of that.

 

“However, in one recent prosecution the illegal dumper was fined just £500 plus £16 in costs for dumping 150 tonnes. That’s about £3.50 a tonne. Tiphead costs for proper disposal in the south run as high as Euro250 a tonne, so with paltry fines we are  actively encouraging illegal dumping.

 

“The committee will now write to Environment Minister Edwin Poots to seek information on the average fine per tonne of illegal waste. If it is to be an effective deterrent it must of course be higher than the cost of proper disposal in a landfill site north or south. It must also be based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle so that the cost of clean-up does not fall on taxpayers here.”

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