Coillte has spent €2m on a forest clean-up in the last five years
Coillte has confirmed that over 600 tonnes of industrial and domestic waste has been found illegally dumped at a forest.
The large scale dumping was discovered last week at a forest in Drumgill in Co Meath.
The illegal dumping was reported by a member of the public and within an hour of receiving it, Coillte were on site.
They met the following day, Wednesday April 24, with Meath County Council.
In a statement Coillte said it "takes the issue of dumping extremely seriously".
It added: "Illegal dumping of any kind will not be tolerated and we are working closely with the gardai and the local authorities to ensure offenders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to protect the Coillte Forest Estate, and ultimately the taxpayer."
Coillte has spent over €2 million nationally in the last five years in clean-up operations of disposing of illegal waste dumped in our forests.
Such dumping "causes serious problems to habitats, species, waters, soils and human health," it said.
Coillte added: "It can pollute rivers and drinking water sources, damage biodiversity, and is a threat to both the people who live in an area and recreational users."
It says that if anyone sees llegal dumping taking place, "please report it to your Local Authority immediately or contact Coillte via our confidential forest security hotline on 1890 800 455".
600 tonnes of industrial waste was dumped in one of our forests in Meath. We are working with Meath CoCo & Gardai to seek prosecution. We take this issue very seriously. Please report illegal dumping to your Local Authority or via the See it Say it App https://t.co/lbBECPYT6k. pic.twitter.com/gRoZIzAtek
— Coillte (@coilltenews) April 30, 2019
Source: Irish Mirror
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