Fermoy’s dumping detective John Mulvihill, has warned of a new dumping scam which is on the rise in the area, even as a national anti-dumping initiative has seen a boost in funding to help local groups tackle illegal dumping.
Mr Mulvihill, who works as a private contractor for state forestry agency Coillte and who featured in a recent Prime Time report, warned that home owners who hire ‘skip bags’ to dispose of household goods are now being approached with offers to remove the bags for cheaper than the waste disposal firms charge.
But, he warned, the waste is being found illegally dumped in beauty spots around North Cork. “They’re offering €35-€40 to take the bag away,” he said. “Householders should know that it’s illegal, and if I find it, it’ll come right back to their doorstep.”
A national anti-dumping initiative has seen a recent boost in funding, and is inviting applications from local groups to tackle dumping in their areas. So far, 111 groups have applied for a share of the new €1.3 million fund available through phase one of the Department of the Environment’s 2017 anti-dumping initiative, including Blackwater Community Clean-up in Fermoy and Lismore Riverwalk clean-up.
Mr Mulvihill praised the extra funding and said that channelling funding through local groups with on-the-ground knowledge of their area was the best way to tackle what he termed the ‘scandalous’ problem of littering in North Cork and beyond’.
MORE CCTV NEEDED
He also said that surveillance is an important weapon in the fight against littering and dumping and urged local groups to use some of the funding for CCTV systems, which he uses himself to detect dumping activity.
Although Mr Mulvihill said that the problem of dumping doesn’t seem to be an issue of cost, perhaps it’s hoped that schemes like Cork County Council’s free bulky household waste collection, held this week in the Mart Car Park on Mill Road, might encourage people to dispose of their waste legally and responsibly.
The free service was very well-attended, with a continuous line of cars and trailers queuing to dispose of everything from mattresses and rusting barbeques to bicycles and scrap metal.
Meanwhile, Labour party local representative Assumpta Murphy, called for dumpers to be ‘named and shamed’ following her discovery of black bin-bags full of waste at St Colman’s field in Fermoy.
“There are small children using that amenity for their sport, and it’s a health hazard,” Mrs Murphy said, mirroring Mr Mulvihill’s calls for increased use of CCTV to identify culprits: “As a safety issue, there should be cameras in there anyway,” she said.
