Two directors of Ireland’s largest waste management firm, Greyhound Recycling and Recovery, have avoided criminal convictions for failing to prevent emissions and odours coming from their main storage facility in Dublin.
An environmental watchdog detected a serious smell problem after inspecting the Greyhound storage site at Crag Avenue, Clondalkin.
The company, which took over Dublin City Council’s domestic bin collection service in January 2012, and two of its directors, brothers Michael and Brian Buckley, were prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency for breaking waste regulations.
The agency brought the case after two of its inspectors carried out assessments at Greyhound’s waste-storage facility in February, March and May last year. The court heard that waste was not properly stored and the smell was “resulting in significant interference with the amenity and environment in the area”.
The company and the Buckley brothers faced four charges.
While Greyhound had entered a guilty plea, Brian Buckley and his brother Michael Buckley, Terenure, Dublin, contested their charges but were found guilty last week by Judge John O’Neill at Dublin District Court.
He had said it was hard to conceive that the two directors were not aware of the problem nor could he ignore the company’s previous convictions for waste-management offences.
Louis McEntaggart, defending, said a record of convictions against the directors could affect their ability to travel to the United States where they also had an office.
Dean Kelly, prosecuting, had told the court that eight local people had complained to Greyhound and “had rung the phone off the hook”.
The judge had imposed fines totalling €10,000 on the company which also has to pay the EPA’s legal costs.
Judge O’Neill also heard that the waste firm had been carrying out works at its facility, at a cost of about €250,000, to deal with the problems identified by the EPA.
He had said the two would be spared court convictions if they each gave €5,000 to two charities, LauraLynn and the Jack and Jill Foundation, by yesterday, which they did.