Three tonnes of tyres dumped in Dublin Mountains
By Aura McMenamin
Three tonnes of tyres were found dumped in the upland Featherbeds area of South Dublin.
Environmental group Pure received a report of the tyres, which were discarded in Piperstown in the Dublin Mountains, close to Bohernabreena.
File picture of a similar illegal dumping incident in 2016
A three-tonne lorry, operated by Pure, was required to complete the cleanup today, which began on Friday and took the tyres to a recycling centre.
According to the project manager of Pure, Ian Davis, the tyres are believed to have been dumped by unregistered waste collectors who rolled the tyres from a lorry into the surrounding bogs.
Mr Davis said: “I’d say it was a one-dumping location. The area is isolated and has a flat landscape. It’s easier to dump and be undetected."
The incident also involved representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Coillte and South Dublin County Council.
Pure record all incidents of illegal dumping by GPS and store incident information including the date, time, location and size on their GIS database system, along with a photo of the dumping.
According to Mr Davis, the culprit of several of these incidents in the Dublin/Wicklow Mountain were unregistered waste collection companies.
He said: “We’ve identified tens of thousands of sites and this is tonnes of rubbish that would require a lorry, not just domestic waste.
“We’re sure that someone is getting financial gain from this.”
The Pure Mile Project has identified some 150 miles of rural road in the Dublin/Wicklow Mountains, with communities taking on a stretch of road each with the aim of keeping it litter-free.
According to Mr Davis, community litter pick ups have actually reduced dumping in the more populated areas of Glenasmole and Cunard, but not in isolated areas like Piperstown.
Pure have successfully had CCTV cameras installed in litter black spots in Wicklow, but said that “talks were ongoing” with South Dublin County Council over installing cameras in areas like Piperstown.
The Pure Mile awards are being held tomorrow night (Tuesday) in Wicklow. Mr Davis admitted that last week’s discovery had cast a shadow on the awards as it highlighted the ongoing issue of illegal dumping, but said there was still ‘a huge amount of positivity and groups that assists Pure’.
