A contreversial landfill site near the beach at Tramore, Co Waterford, is to accommodate all of the county's domestic refuse from next summer.
Members of Waterford County Council were told at their monthly meeting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had issued a directive that requires the local authority to stop accepting municipal waste at their waste disposal site in Dungarvan by June 30th, 2003.
A licence for the Dungarvan site issued by the EPA on November 29th provides for phased closure and restoration of the facility by the end of 2005.
From July 1st next, Waterford County Council and Dungarvan Town Council will have to divert all domestic waste to the landfill site at Tramore, which currently only caters for east Waterford.
Plans by Waterford County Council to develop a new "super-dump" at Garrynagree to serve the entire county have been stalled by a High Court case that was first heard in May 2001.