Mobuoy public meeting to discuss the need for a public inquiry into waste crime across the North

A public meeting on the campaign for justice for Mobuoy, the massive illegal dump on the outskirts of Derry, will be held on Wednesday, August 27 at 6pm in Holywell Trust in Derry.

The meeting titled 'How toxic is Mobuoy' is organised by the Environmental Gathering, and will discuss the need for a public inquiry into waste crime across the North and the remediation of the site.

Speakers include Dean Blackwood from the River Faughan Anglers, Mary McGuigan, a local resident living near Mobuoy road, James Orr, the director of Friends of the Earth, and Michael Avila from the Committee on the Administration of Justice. 

Dean Blackwood spoke on the campaign saying: “While the recent sentencing of the criminals who carried out this unprecedented eco-crime closes one chapter of the Mobuoy saga, the citizens of Derry and beyond deserve to know how our planning and regulator authorities failed on such an epic scale. 

"That’s why we need a public inquiry to establish the extent of institutional neglect within government that is facilitating waste crime and how this needs to be addressed.”

There is an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of illegally dumped waste in the Mobuoy Road site and at it's closest is just five metres from the River Faughan, with investigations showing leachate from the groundwater of the dump running into the river posing a public health risk.

This meeting is organised a week before DAERA hold two public consultation events on the draft Mobuoy Site Remediation Strategy and therefore allows citizens to come together before these events.