Local authority officials found rotting carcasses of animals and sheeps' heads as well as large quantities of household refuse at an illegal dump in a gravel pit on farmlands in west Cork, a court was told yesterday.
Mr Michael Coomey, a farmer from Kilavarrig, Timoleague, appeared before Judge John Buckley in the Cork Circuit Court. The judge granted an interim injunction to Cork County Council to cease the landfill operation.
Mr Coomey was also ordered to provide the council with details of the nature and location of materials which might be environmentally hazardous and dangerous.
An injunction was also granted against Mr Peter Nyhan, trading as Cork Wheel-A-Bin Services, with an address at Curragh, Upton, Co Cork, who gave an undertaking he would cease dumping at the lands which are adjacent to the Argideen river.
Judge Buckley granted the injunction although Mr Coomey was not present.
In an affidavit, a senior council official, Mr Edward Hoard, said Mr Coomey had been using the gravel pit on his lands as a landfill dump for large quantities of household rubbish and commercial waste since the spring of 1995.
An inspection of the dump in September 1997 by an engineer revealed domestic and commercial waste including animal carcasses and flesh, sheeps' heads, tyres and soiled nappies. Judge Buckley fixed the case for a full hearing on Monday next.