£2.2m for dump business case

Mr. Poots said a business case for the remediation of the landfill dump was under development.

The Department of Finance has allocated £2.2m towards the first phase of this.

“A specific business case for remediation of the Mobuoy Road site is under development and the key priority is to protect public health and the environment.

“A number of options to deal with the waste are being considered and the costs are likely to be significant,” confirmed the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

He was quizzed about the site by the Green Party MLA for North Down Rachel Woods by way of an Assembly Question.

Mr. Poots stated: “The Project to remediate the site is moving forward in a 3-stage approach, the first part of which is to prepare for the remediation; in July 2019 the Department of Finance approved part 1 of the business case (OBC1) for this, with approval to spend an initial £2.2m.

“While DAERA secured funding of £0.5M in 2019/20, bids have been submitted for subsequent financial years.

“In addition to extensive ongoing monitoring to ensure the public drinking water supply remains safe, the current preparation stage includes appointing an integrated design team and developing and costing the detailed remediation strategy.

“Once this has been done, part 2 of the business case (OBC2) will be presented to seek approval for the full cost of the remediation work.”

Mr. Poots confirmed that the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) Enforcement Branch, responsible for dealing with suspected waste sites, is resourced with 38 staff in total.