Update on Mobuoy strategy due on Muir’s desk this month with Derry meetings planned for May
An update on the remediation strategy for Mobuoy, taking account of a recent public consultation, is due on Andrew Muir’s desk this month.
The environment minister said some points of clarification were identified as part of the process but no fundamental changes to the proposed remediation techniques are envisaged.
Mr. Muir will meet local political representatives, the council, statutory bodies and stakeholders in Derry to discuss the next steps in May.
Last month a summary report on consultation responses to the draft remediation strategy was published and showed safeguarding the public water supply was the top priority for respondents.
Speaking at Stormont on Monday Mr. Muir said: “I have moved as quickly as possible to complete the public consultation on the draft remediation strategy for the Mobuoy site. The summary report on consultation responses was published on March 12, 2026, and, taking account of responses on what the revised strategy should be, it should be with me later this month.
"Overall, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency's (NIEA) review and assessment of responses have not indicated any need for fundamental changes to the proposed integrated remediation techniques.
"However, there are areas in which further clarification and refinement will strengthen the strategy. That work is being progressed to ensure that the strategy is robust, and it will provide the necessary basis for considering the overall financial requirements for the remediation of the site.”
Drinking water for 60,000 people in Derry is sourced from Cloghole on the River Faughan, two kilometres downstream of the dump.
Asked about the clean-up plans by SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin Mr. Muir said that once the update is on his desk ‘consideration will then need to be given to the next steps and realistic timescales in line with the Department’s responsibility to protect water quality’.
"I plan to meet the Member, other Foyle MLAs, the local MPs, the Mayor and the chief executive of Derry City and Strabane District Council, along with NI Water and DFI officials, in May, and that will be an important opportunity for a discussion on the way forward. It is vital that the environmental monitoring programme continues to be delivered, and I am committed to ensuring that it remains in place until a long-term solution is delivered,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) draft remediation strategy proposes a range of techniques to neutralise waste in the dump including the physical removal of material, the pumping and processing of contaminated groundwater and phytoremediation using short rotation crops such as willow and miscanthus.
For the purposes of the clean-up the 46 hectare Faughan-side site has been divided into nine zones with different techniques applying to each where appropriate.
Provisional cost estimates for the clean-up have ranged from £17m and £700m although DAERA have said the £700m figure is at the upper limit and would entail the physical removal of all of the waste buried in the dump, which is not proposed.
Officials have said that engineering works at Mobuoy could take up to seven years once a strategy is approved while monitoring and maintenance is likely to continue for two decades.
Up to 1.6m cubic metres of waste including domestic, industrial hazardous waste (tarry waste), construction/demolition and metallic waste – some dating to the 1960s – is buried at Mobuoy.