Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 5:00pm

Convicted of causing pollution

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A Cootehill man was fined €1,500 and ordered to pay €3,797 costs when he was convicted on two counts of breaching the environmental regulations.

Paraic O'Reilly, Tullyco, Cootehill, was summoned that between June 2 and 11, 2009, at Corfad, Stradone, he held waste (associated plastics, construction and demolition, as well as household waste) in a manner that was likely to cause environmental pollution.

He was also summoned that on November 11, 2009, at Corfad he failed to comply with certain requirements contained in a notice from Cavan County Council.

David Barry from Cavan County Council's waste management section, said on June 11 they received a complaint of waste being disposed at Corfad. When he arrived, the waste included household waste, plastic bags, construction and demolition waste. The site was again visited on August 22 and a notice was served on Mr. O'Reilly but it was not complied with.

The defendant had obtained two skips and the waste was put in them. One of the skips had been disposed of and the second one was still on site.

Replying to Pierce O'Sullivan, solicitor defending, Mr. Barry said that Wilton Waste had disposed of one of the skips and they would dispose of the other later in the week. The defendant did maintain that a lot of the material had been dumped on his land by other people.

The council was looking into that allegation. The site was an old quarry site, which was some distance from Mr. O'Reilly's home. The council had advised him to put a lock on the gate.

Mr. O'Sullivan informed the court that his client had paid Wilton Waste €1,160 to remove the skips and he was facing costs of almost €3,800 from the county council. He had incurred substantial debt and his circumstances were not good. His entire income for the month was €500.

He had learned a salutary lesson and the requirement from the council had been met. The defendant should have taken steps to secure his property.

Judge David Anderson said to the defendant's credit the problem had been resolved. However, to his discredit he got a notice from the council and he tried to cover it up. Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

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