What happened at Mobuoy ‘complete disgrace’ but remediation will not be a quick fix says Andrew Muir

Derry Journal

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00:00My department is continuing to progress work in relation to monitoring the site,

00:04pursuing a criminal just outcome against the former operators and

00:08determining the best approach for remediation through an industry standard

00:12process. A draft remediation strategy has been developed in relation to the

00:17long-term remediation of the Maboy site in line with industry standards. My

00:22officials have published the Maboy remediation options appraisal report on

00:26the DERA website to support the completion of the remediation strategy.

00:29In terms of next steps, officials are working through an industry standard

00:34process following a land contamination risk management guidance. This includes

00:39consultation with the public to seek their views on a draft remediation

00:43strategy for the Maboy site. The size and complexity of the Maboy site means that

00:48its remediation will not be a quick fix and will be subject to affordability

00:52considerations in the context of constraints on public sector finances. It

00:57is vitally important that all interested parties have the opportunity to comment

01:00on the draft strategy. There is no agreed preferred option and there will not be

01:05until a consultation has been completed and responses have been carefully

01:09considered. NEA continues to implement a comprehensive environmental monitoring

01:14program at the site and regular water quality reports are published and are

01:19freely available on the DERA website. To date, I am advised that there has been

01:22no adverse impact on the safety of drinking water being supplied from the

01:26River Fáil.

01:30Thank you Minister for your comprehensive answer and I think you've

01:33provided a lot of clarity on those details. We're all in agreement that this

01:37is an ecological disaster, that it's a complete national scandal, not just for

01:42Derry but right across Ireland. So I'm glad that your department are working on

01:47that. Would you agree to meet with me, with residents and with environmental

01:50groups who are keen to campaign to make sure that there's truth and there's

01:54resolution to this scandal? Minister? What occurred in the past in relation to

02:01my boy was a complete disgrace and whilst I will continue to pursue the

02:08issue of the polluter pays and the principle around that, what is happening

02:12here is the public sector and the people of Northern Ireland are having to pick up

02:16the tab in terms of looking towards remediation of that and that's not lost

02:21upon me. So I'm happy to meet with yourself and others around this because

02:24I know it's a key issue not just for the people of Derry, Londonderry but also

02:28for Northern Ireland more widely. Mark Durkan for a supplementary.

02:34I thank the Minister for his answers. Minister, given the eye-watering

02:39projected cost of cleanup, the current cross-cutting impasse cost of the

02:44completion of the A6 and the potential catastrophic consequences to the

02:49environment and to human health, should my boy remain unsolved, does the

02:55Minister agree with me that there should be a specific commitment in the

02:59programme for government to get this issue sorted once and for all and funded?

03:06There is a commitment from me to address this issue within the financial

03:11resources available to me and that's the challenge around this because, as you

03:16know, the cost for remediation of this could be quite substantial. In terms of

03:20the programme for government, I'm glad that that was launched yesterday for

03:23consultation and I would encourage all members of the House and of Northern

03:26Ireland to give their feedback in relation to that. But what we've got to

03:30do in terms of programme for government is also be realistic what we can achieve

03:33within the reduced mandate. We lost two years of this mandate as a result of

03:37this House not sitting and what we're trying to do is sort of play catch-up

03:40in terms of the issues that need to be addressed and my boy is one of those.

03:43Eileen McAllister for supplementary. I thank the Minister for his answers so far and

03:48just picking up on some of the things that you'd mentioned in both the

03:50previous answers and specifically on the review of environmental crime fines and

03:55the penalties. Will these cover waste crime so this scandal, a scandal like

04:00this, does not happen in the future? The review and consultation around the fines

04:06and penalties associated with environmental crime is really really

04:09important and it will cover waste crime because it's something I'm quite

04:12concerned about and officials are working at this in terms of taking this

04:16forward and once we launch that consultation I would encourage everyone

04:19to make a response to that.

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