An illegal dump has been operating for at least three years about 250 yards from Kilkenny County Council's area office in south Kilkenny.
The council admitted yesterday it has known about the dump, at Newrath, close to Waterford city, since 1999 and said it had taken steps several times to have it closed.
Dumping of builders' waste, however, has continued at the site up to Tuesday of this week. The council says it will initiate a prosecution in the coming days.
It is also in the process of hiring a consultant to establish the environmental implications of the dump, which is near both a special area of conservation and a natural heritage area.
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency said it had asked Kilkenny County Council for a report on the dump in May 2000 but had not received one.
The dump covers an area of at least two acres and includes rubble, topsoil, piping, sheets and other materials apparently cleared from building sites. It is on land zoned for industrial development.
Contacted yesterday by The Irish Times, a businessman whose vehicles have been seen entering and leaving the site asked: "Was that you photographing a dumper the other day?" Informed that it was not, he said he would call back in a few minutes but did not. Further efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.
A Kilkenny County Council spokesman said it had actively pursued the matter since the dump was first noticed by the then area engineer, who was based in the council's Newrath office, in 1999.
He pointed out that the dump was not visible from the council office but the engineer had observed it, and it had been inspected a number of times since then.
Notices under Section 55 of the Waste Management Act had been served on those allegedly responsible, ordering them to desist from dumping on the site, but these had not brought the desired result.
Documentation was now "in the process of being forwarded to solicitors and a prosecution will follow", he said. This would have happened within the next week in any event and had nothing to do with the matter being raised by The Irish Times, he stressed.
The most recent site inspection was carried out last Thursday by a senior executive engineer and an acting executive engineer. It had also been inspected on November 22nd, he said.
