Derelict Julianstown site 'a major health hazard': judge

The owners of the derelict Old Mill Hotel in Julianstown told a court on Friday how they dug a moat and erected boulders in an attempt to stop large-scale dumping of domestic and construction waste onto the site running alongside the river Nanny. However, the site was described as "a major health hazard" by Judge Flann Brennan at Drogheda Court. The hotel was gutted by a major fire in 2007. The building and site, which is bounded on one side by the old Dublin-Belfast Road, was said to be valued at €3.4 million at one stage but the asking price is now €600,000. Two men - Michael Durkan, Kildalkey Wood, Kildalkey, and John Lynch, Kalyn House, Beaulieu, Co Louth - were prosecuted by Meath County Council for failing to comply with a pollution notice under Section 55 of the Waste Management Act 1996. Both defendants represented themselves. Mary McCarthy, assistant staff officer, Meath County Council, gave evidence of the issuing of a county manager's order regarding the pollution notice, and of having served it on the defendants by registered post. Asked by Judge Brennan if they wanted to ask questions of the witness, Michael Durkan said there were other people dumping material on the property. They had even dug a moat to try to stop people coming onto the site to dump. Declan Grimes, executive engineer, Meath County Council, gave evidence of having inspected the site in May last year. He found there were hundreds of bags of domestic rubbish dumped there, along with sofas, beds and builders' rubble. There were also barrels of oil which appeared to be from the Old Mill itself standing in the grounds. He added that, as a result of his inspection, he served a Section 55 notice on the defendants to remove the waste and to secure the site to prevent further dumping. However, on a further inspection, he found that the situation had become worse. Mr Grimes said oil from the barrels was leaking out onto the ground 50 metres from the river Nanny. Due to the position of bags of domestic waste, there was the possibility of the river being polluted. The engineer said the current situation was that the council had reached an understanding that the defendants would remove the most hazardous material within seven days. On 9th February last, the council had to enter the site and remove several barrels of oil. He estimated the cost of removing the bags of domestic waste and the oil at between €5,000-€6,000. Eighty metres of fencing would cost an extra €6,000-€7,000. John Lynch told the court they had taken measures to stop dumping from the public road. They had erected bollards on a slope or road leading onto the site to block access and had also dug the moat at the end of that slope. The council engineer confirmed that there were bollards in place but this did not stop the dumping. Michael Durkan said there was a long stretch of road around the site and he did not know what way people were dumping. Huge boulders had been put up. A one stage, they almost had the property sold but it had not gone through and they had closed down the premises. He said that Mr Lynch had suffered a heart attack during that period and he himself was working overseas. He asked Judge Brennan for a four-month stay to allow them to clean up the site themselves. "I don't know what we will do but we will do our best to clean it up in the next three to four months," he said. There was also money due to them under a compulsory purchase order from the council. The total amount was €33,000, of which €23,000 was theirs. He suggested the council could take that money and use it to clean up the site. The defendant said they had got a quotation of €400 from a contractor to take the oil away but, in the meantime, the council had removed it and the cost was €1,100. Judge Brennan asked what was the position regarding title of the property, Mr David McEntee, solicitor for the council, replied that he was trying to get both defendants to submit evidence of title. That had been going on for two years, he said. The judge said: "It is a major health hazard as far as I can see." When Michael Durkan said that they were trying to deal with it, the judge said: "Maybe, but you are quite unconvincing." John Lynch said people were stopping on the public road and dumping the waste onto the property. He said they could not get machinery onto the site to remove the waste and they only way they could do it was to go in and handle the domestic rubbish. He was having to go down to the site twice a week. "This is totally detrimental to my health. I can't go down there without feeling sickened. I went twice this week to try and remove the rubbish to the recycling centre. I can't make a dent in it at all," he said. The judge said he was satisfied there had been a failure to comply with the notice by the defendants. He imposed fines of €1,000 on each of the defendants with €500 legal costs and expenses of €2,000.