slurry dumped near a river

iwsf

Good day all,
i have a quick question for the farming community.
A local farmer dug a large hole at the very end of his field ( right next to mine) and dumps on a regular basis slurry in it. There is a river less than 10 meter away.
Surely this is illegal and dangerous as it will pollute the river , correct ?

Any advise appreciated.

49801

is this a new slurry hole?
if he has been doing this for years I kinda doubt that it is polutting as it would of been picked up by now.
Perhaps it is clay or membrane lined?

iwsf

it is new ( done a couple of months ago)

corkcomp

sounds a bit odd, why would he not just dump it straight into the river if he wanted to? If he doesn't go back and empty out the hole afterwards its safe to assume its not lined.

beazee

Illegal Dumping Line

The “Dump the Dumpers” service was designed to encourage reporting of illegal dumping of waste or of abandoned illegal dumps via a 24 hour call save telephone number - 1850 365 121. This information is followed up and checked by the enforcement authorities - local authorities, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement and the Gardaí - through the Environmental Enforcement Network.

A review of the operation of the service has indicated that 70% of calls are resolved. Approximately 75% of calls received to date relate to incidents of fly tipping and burning of waste.

The “Dump the Dumpers” phone line is staffed on a 24-hour basis so callers get to speak to a trained operator who elicits all necessary details to enable the matter to be investigated. While information can be provided anonymously, callers are encouraged to leave contact details so that clarification can be sought if necessary and so that feedback can be provided to the caller if requested.

Serious incidents of illegal dumping are reported immediately to the Gardaí and the relevant local authority so that activities can be investigated as appropriate. These include for example, the contents of a 40-foot trailer being dumped in a field or the dumping of diesel laundering waste.

“The “Dump the Dumpers” phone line is proving to be a valuable mechanism for members of the public to report illegal waste activities. We want to make it as easy as possible for the public to take control of environmental problems in their area and hope the phone line will encourage them to do so,” explained Dara Lynott, Director, EPA, Office of Environmental Enforcement.
http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/enforce/report/illegaldumping/#d.en.23767

No harm informing EPA on the matter.

iwsf

Thanks for all the infos.
He can't dump in the river for the simple reason that he has no access to it.
Will keep in mind the EPA should he keeps dumping slurry.

49801

Can any1 clarify what the regulation is before every1 rushes to judgment?

bob charles

AS you say dumps in a hole, it is a very different to stockpilling on land awaiting spreading. Are you sure is slurry and not a liquid soil type of stuff. Either way you cannot stock pill dung within 10m of a surface watercourse

patjack

Hi OP, just make sure he is actually dumping slurry rather than sucking water. What I am saying is, did he dig the hole to allow water from the river into it so he could draw water from the hole, possibly for agitating slurry back in his yard. Just saying it's possible. If not and he is actually dumping slurry he is being very wreckless as if caught his SFP would be stopped or at least heavily penalised. Let us know how it pans out, sincerely hope he isn't dumping slurry.

iwsf

Thanks for all the replies.
It is slurry for sure.
Will see how it goes on , don't want a war either !

pakalasa

Strange one alright. Why dig a hole only 10m from the river. More likely to pollute and all that.

whelan1

i had the fisheries board around about a month ago, maybe give them a ring and they can investigate

Bizzum

49801 wrote: »

Can any1 clarify what the regulation is before every1 rushes to judgment?

It's covered under Fisheries legislation.

whelan1 wrote: »

i had the fisheries board around about a month ago, maybe give them a ring and they can investigate

I agree with Whelan1, Your local IFI (Inland Fisheries Ireland) office would be worth a ring.

It seems on the surface to be an odd case but you never know. Slurry is a valuable commodity to most farmers, there are much better ways of utilization!

Muckit

Perhaps the OP could go in with a big stick and try stirring it.

corkcomp

from reading between the lines here I think the OP has the wrong end of the stick. He already mentioned that the guy had no direct access to the river and slurry doesnt seep THAT quickly through the ground, it could take weeks, plus think about what size hole would be required even to take the slurry from one 2000 gal tanker so it's hard to see the logic if he isnt emptying out the hole.

bob charles

Bizzum wrote: »

It's covered under Fisheries legislation.

Is it? I taught it would only come under fisheries remit if it enters the river and until then is a county council issue? either way I condone it, if its as posted on here

Agent_47

F***ing disgrace. Surely this sort of stuff has stopped and the modern farmer frowns on such stuff going on especially near a river.
Farmer should be shopped by the OP to teh EPA. Giving farming a bad name.

The pollution this causes and the cost is far more than what that farmer would pay for proper disposal.

bob charles

Agent_47 wrote: »

The pollution this causes and the cost is far more than what that farmer would pay for proper disposal.

Exactly thats why it all sounds so strange, Speaking as someone that has invested a huge amount of money to meet the most stringent regulations it boils my blood to see such a carry on. Also blatant pollution by the county councils clear in the knowledge that they wont/cant be prosecuted ticks me off. These are the first authority to throw stones in the direction of Agriculture cause they know their own house isnt in order. :mad:

palo

Mabey you should take less notice of whats going on in the neighbours field, he is probably stuck for a bit of storage until the weather clears up most lightly will spread it on his land then. If you are still concerned in the morning why don't you pop round to the farmer and tell him how concerned you are with his big hole and dumping manure into it.

Bizzum

bob charles wrote: »

Is it? I taught it would only come under fisheries remit if it enters the river and until then is a county council issue?

Fisheries(Consolidation)Act 1959 Section 172
(2) Where any receptacle used for containing or conveying any deletirous matter is within 30 yards of any waters.........

Agent_47 wrote: »

F***ing disgrace. Surely this sort of stuff has stopped and the modern farmer frowns on such stuff going on especially near a river.
Farmer should be shopped by the OP to teh EPA. Giving farming a bad name.

This sort of stuff has by and large stopped. It would be an unusual enough scenario.
I'd be slow to jump to any great conclusions without knowing all the facts.

palo wrote: »

Mabey you should take less notice of whats going on in the neighbours field, he is probably stuck for a bit of storage until the weather clears up most lightly will spread it on his land then.

What weather is this? Exceptionally dry Feb around me! 30mm of rain for the month.
One way or another,(and the full facts are not known here) a hole in the ground is not a great storage place.

porter shark

is he a dairy farmer? washings maybe? if it is slurry surely a neighbour with higher ground would take it. i know i'd jump at the chance

iwsf

yes it is a dairy farmer.
Anyway thank you all for your contributions, will see how it goes.

blue5000

corkcomp wrote: »

from reading between the lines here I think the OP has the wrong end of the stick. He already mentioned that the guy had no direct access to the river and slurry doesnt seep THAT quickly through the ground, it could take weeks, plus think about what size hole would be required even to take the slurry from one 2000 gal tanker so it's hard to see the logic if he isnt emptying out the hole.

OP have you actually looked in the hole, is there slurry in it? It is possible that the farmer could be using the hole to take water from the river to put in slurry tanks to agitate them.

iwsf

yes it is slurry.

corkcomp

iwsf wrote: »

yes it is slurry.

how big is the hole and how does the slurry get from the hole to the river?

porter shark

anything come of that situation? iwsf