Video: Dolores Kelly raises of issue of ‘substantive illegal dumping’ in Foyle and asks why National Crime Agency was not involved

That was the question asked at a meeting of the Stormont Infrastructure Committee by an SDLP MLA who claimed cross-border gangsters had polluted the Foyle with illegally dumped rubbish.

SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly made the claims during a briefing by officials from the Department for Infrastructure’s (DfI) regional and strategic planning directorates.

She explicitly stated that she was not referring to a specific site.

“I understand that there was substantive illegal dumping in the River Foyle as well - at the Faughan river, yes? I am not sure if it is still subject to legal proceedings, but I believe that there was a cross-border element and organised crime gangs were involved,” she said.

The Upper Bann MLA asked why the NCA had not been brought in to deal with the problem.

“Has the NCA’s expertise been brought in in pursuit of those responsible? If the criminal evidence was insufficient, has any thought been given to look at using unexplained wealth orders in relation to some of those responsible?”

Alistair Beggs, the director of the strategic planning directorate at DfI, was assured by Dolores Kelly that she was raising a separate issue unrelated to a specific site. “I am afraid that that might be a matter for the council. I am certainly not aware of any of the detail of that,” said Mr. Beggs.

The NCA is a UK-wide agency tasked with reducing “the impact of serious and organised crime on the UK and our communities”.

It succeeded the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) in Britain in 2013 and, despite being initially blocked in the North by Sinn Féin and the SDLP, was extended here in 2015.

Dolores Kelly raising ‘substantial illegal dumping’ at the committee.