A local councillor has questioned if Waterford City and County Council are doing enough to prevent a frequently recurring issue of illegal dumping along the Colligan Estuary.
Cllr. Damien Geoghegan (Fine Gael) has long been critical of dumping in the Estuary, which has been a major issue for many years, and raised the issue again at the May meeting of the Dungarvan / Lismore Municipal District.
Speaking in response to Cllr. Geoghegan, Senior Executive Engineer with Waterford City & County Council, Niall Kane, said not a whole lot can be done without having CCTV on hand to prosecute offenders.
“We’ve been addressing it and cleaning it as it arises”, he said. “We’ve put in funding under the Anti-Dumping Initiative to allow for steps that make it easy for the guys to access it. Soft ground mats will go in that will make it easier as the machinery would’ve previously sank into it. We’re hoping to address it.”
Cllr. Geoghegan then questioned whether or not Waterford City & County Council had any plans to prevent it in the first place.
“Well when we’re allowed use CCTV, that’ll be a major arm”, said Mr. Kane. “There’s no real prospect. It’s a long section of Estuary which we can’t section or fence off. I don’t think it would be very attractive if we did that. CCTV is the real weapon.”
