COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

"To ask the Manager for a report on Waterstown Park to include the recent work on monitoring the landfill and its impact on local residents and park users and to include some indication on plans for the future and assurances that local residents will not be discommoded and receive pertinent in formation prior to activity that may impact on them in the future?"

REPLY:

The current work on Waterstown landfill is being carried out to satisfy the requirements of Waste Management ( Certification of Historic Unlicensed Waste Disposal and Recovery Activity ) Regulations 2008: SI  No.524 of 2008.  Under these regulations Local Authorities are required to apply for a Certificate of Authorisation for any closed landfill in their area of jurisdiction. A closed landfill for the purpose of these regulations is defined as  a landfill site operated by a local authority for the recovery or disposal of waste on any date between 15^th July 1977 and 27^th March 1997 ( ie prior to the entry into force of the Waste Management (Licensing ) Regulations 1997 ( SI  S.I No 133 of 1997)). Waterstown falls into the category of closed landfill as defined above.  These regulations now require SDCC to apply for a Certificate of Authorisation for Waterstown Landfill. To do this the landfill has to be risk assessed in line with the EPA Code of Practice for the Environmental Risk Assessment of  Unregulated Waste Disposal sites which was published in 2007.  The first stage of this risk assessment is an exploratory site investigation and sampling which is the current work that has just been completed in Waterstown. The current work  started on 12^th November 2012 and was  completed on 12^th December 2012.  The work completed was as follows -

• The geophysical survey of the site and five trial pits have been completed.
• Three gas wells have been drilled and equipped for monitoring of gas. All these gas wells are capped so there is no venting of gas into the atmosphere.
• Three boreholes have been drilled and equipped for Groundwater monitoring.
• Groundwater, surface water and leachate monitoring have been completed
• Gas monitoring has been completed.
• Topographical surveys have been completed.
•  A draft report on the findings of the exploratory site investigation was submitted by the Council's consultant last week.
• This report is currently being reviewed by the Council's Environmental Services Dept.  
• SDCC  in consultation with the DECLG  will decide on  the next course of action regarding the need to put in additional monitoring boreholes, once the report has been reviewed.