Brickkiln ‘breaches 
its licence’

Part of the group chosen to build an incinerator in Maydown was in breach of its waste licence when a mound of rubbish spontaneously combusted in November.
Mark H DurkanMark H Durkan
Mark H Durkan

Environment Minister Mark H. Durkan says the Environment Agency (NIEA) took action against Brickkiln as a result of last month’s incident.

On November 8 fire commander Kevin Lynch said 200 tonnes of recyclable material had to be moved to fight the Brickkiln blaze, which, he said, had likely been a case of “spontaneous combustion.”

Pressed by Green MLA Stephen Agnew, Minister Durkan stated in a written answer that at the time: “Brickkiln Ltd. was not in compliance with the conditions of the Waste Management Licence.”

The DoE told the Sentinel yesterday that the non-compliances related to waste storage and fire and a notice was imposed requiring waste removal and a clean-up after the fire.

The Sentinel asked Brickkiln if it wished to comment on the statement that was made by the Minister at Stormont but no response was available at time of going to press.

Responding to Mr Agnew, Mr Durkan had said that the company was, however, in compliance with Water Discharge regulations and that DoE Planning was not aware of any breach of planning control.

The revelation comes as an expert review into alleged illegal landfilling at another, entirely separate Londonderry waste plant, is published this morning.

Back in June, Mr Durkan’s predecessor Alex Attwood revoked the operating licence of City Industrial Waste Ltd. after what he described as an unprecedented investigation into allegations of large scale criminal offending involving the disposal of waste.

Mr Attwood announced: “Not just tens but some hundreds of thousands of tons of waste have been illegally deposited in a number of areas of land in the Mobuoy area, just outside Derry.”

The review -led by former director of the Welsh Environment Agency, Chris Mills - is scheduled to be unveiled in Londonderry this morning (Wednesday, December 18).