Mobuoy pollution 'catastrophe': 'In worst-case scenario people in north-west of Northern Ireland will have to drink bottled water' witness tells Stormont committee

Daniel McAteer of PCI Consulting, a firm in Londonderry city, was speaking before the agriculture and environment committee this morning about the colossal illegal waste racket which saw upwards of a million tonnes of rubbish buried close to the River Faughan.

There appears to be relatively little information online about PCI Consulting besides its basic company registration information saying it was set up in 2000.

Mr McAteer’s LinkedIn profile says he has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in accountancy.

He told the committee he had assembled a team of experts in environmental health and had drawn up a plan to solve the problem of the dump back in 2015, and this has never been taken forward by government.

Appearing as a witness before the committee he said: “Back in 2015 we were approached by a number of farmers, residents, veterinary people and business people generally in the area we come from who were concerned about the Mobuoy issue and the seeming lack of progress about what was being done, and we were asked to develop a solution for it.

"To cut a very long story short we set about assembling what we believe is a world-class team of experts who are capable of providing a comprehensive solution to this problem.

"We've tried to engage with various agencies since 2015 and unfortunately that engagement hasn't really led to anything productive. In fact, it hasn't really led to anything at all.

"We believe the approach taken from the very start has been misconceived.

"We've repeatedly asked that there be a competition or expressions of interest from interested parties that might come along and help fix this, but those requests have not been acknowledged.”

He gave a recap of the situation, which he described as a “catastrophe”.

He said there is somewhere between a million and 1.6m tonnes of waste at the site, an impact on agriculture, an impact on drinking water, and even an impact on progress on the A6 road since the new road would pass through part of the dump.

He said concerns about the site were first raised in 2007, and the whole site was shut down in 2012, with a big report (the Mills Report) published on it the following year.

In 2016 “we'd formally presented our position our comprehensive solution which has now fallen on deaf ears”, he said.

This involved building a barrier to protect the River Faughan, followed by excavation of the waste, sorting, removal, and remediation.

He said no cost could be put on this because he doesn’t know how much waste is there, but he imagines it would cost “significantly less than the figures that have been quoted publicly”.

PCI gave a presentation to the local council 2022, which then commissioned a firm called Tetra Tech to assess the options open for solving the problem.

In all, Mr McAteer said, £4m has been spent so far on consultancy fees but “we haven't lifted a sod” for “no justifiable or defensible reason”.

He then cited a memo which he said dated from 2020 and which he got hold of via Freedom of Information law.

Quoting from it, he said: “...When the minister asked for an update he was told by one of his officials the site presents a live and current risk to the safety of drinking water for 50,000 households in the north-west which, if realised, in the worst case scenario [would] require the supply of bottled water to those homes.”

This, Mr McAteer said, would be “a fairly primitive response”.

He added that "we can fix the problem" and that “there should be established a new group to bring this solution forward”.

He also told the committee: “Who was responsible for creating the problem? That's not really our business.

"We do not support the idea of a public enquiry. Why the Titanic sunk isn't really the most important thing – we're interested in fixing the problem.”

Mr McAteer said "we're sympathetic to the department" given its budgetary restraints but "the issue here is doing the best solution for this country" regardless of cost.

Leaving the waste in situ risks it leaching into the river or it could "explode", he said.

He also recounted a meeting at which “the then-lead from the department had said to the neighbours: 'do you really want this waste being removed in lorries passing your house?'”

Mr McAteer said that the householder replied: “'You weren't that concerned when they were coming past my house 24 hours a day [on its way into the dump].'"

Alliance committee member John Blair said he understands the department’s inability to give a firm figure on remediation costs at the site, given how much it might change over time and the uncertainty about its contents.

The committee agreed to write to the department for its views, and to clarify as much as possible the tonnage, cost projections, and the progress of solutions to date.