It will cost £50 million to clean up dump at Mobuoy near Derry
More than a million tonnes of waste was illegally dumped at the large ‘Blot On The Landscape’ site before it shut in 2013.
In February, it emerged that fixing environmental damage at Mobuoy could cost up to £700m.
The figure is contained in 2022/23 accounts from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera).
Officials estimate a cost range of between £17m and £700m.
Questions around security were raised after officials from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the Department of Agriculture updated councillors on plans to make the site safe.
Councillors were told padlocks had been “tampered with” and chains securing gates cut.
The NIEA said it could not introduce extra security measures such as CCTV because it does not own the site.
It does not own the site but inspects it on a weekly basis, as well as testing the nearby Faughan River, which supplies a significant proportion of Derry’s drinking water.
Councillors were told this week that padlocks have been tampered with and chains cut.
At a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council, a councillor said that fly-tipping at the site was an ongoing issue.
Councillors heard of one particular incident of fly-tipping “within the site boundary” of Mobuoy.
This was identified by NIEA staff in March with contents needing to be removed after liaising with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) as the materials were deemed a “fire risk”.
Mobuoy project manager Claire O’Neill from the NIEA told councillors they had staff on the site “every single week as part of the extensive monitoring programme.”
She said despite not owning Mobuoy, NIEA staff were carrying out repairs to padlocks and gates.
“It is us that is repairing those and it’s an ongoing issue,” she said.
She said they had considered what extra security measures could be taken, but could not lawfully proceed because they do not own the site.
Sinn Fein councillor Alex Duffy said he had seen the gate to the Mobuoy site open as recently as last week and was aware of people dumping there.
“I would be quite frequently up around that area and I just noticed as early as last week that it was lying open,” he said.
“We know padlocks keep being removed and people keep going in and dumping in the dump.”
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