'Contaminated groundwater reaching River Faughan in quantities above safe water quality levels'

A public meeting has taken place in Derry to discuss the notorious Mobuoy dump on the outskirts of the city.

Organised by The Environmental Gathering group, ‘How Toxic Is Mobuoy?’ was held on Wednesday evening in Holywell Trust on Bishop Street.

The speakers at the meeting were: Dean Blackwood, Faughan Anglers Association; Mary McGuigan, The Environmental Gathering; James Orr, Friends of the Earth; and Michael Avila, Committee on the Administration of Justice.

Chairing the proceedings, Maeve O’Neill said illegal waste and waste crime across the North was a “massive issue that goes well beyond Mobuoy”.

“I am sure I don’t need to tell anybody here that Mobuoy is biggest illegal in Europe and nothing has been done yet to remediate and clean up the site. It is just being contained and managed at the moment,” she added.

'How Toxic is Mobuoy?' public meeting held in Derry

'Unmitigated disaster which is Mubuoy has been going on now for at least 15 years' - Dean Blackwood, Faughan Anglers Association

Dean Blackwood opened his presentation by saying although he was born in Bann Drive in Derry he was reared on the River Faughan. “It is my river.”

He said: “In November 2015, this is some of what we knew was in Mobuoy dump: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and mercury - all heavy metals that are interacting with and contaminating the groundwater at Mobuoy - to name but a few.

“15 years ago we knew there was this concoction of chemicals interacting with the groundwater at Mobuoy. For anybody that knows the geography of the Mobuoy Valley, it is an alluvial plain, it is sand and gravel, groundwater runs freely through it. But we were assured at the time, these chemicals, whilst the groundwater was highly contaminated, there was no sign of any leachate reaching the river itself, the surface water.

“That was probably quite reassuring, if it was true, in the sense that, we have only discovered very recently from a report that existed around 2012 but only became available in the last year or so, that the volume of leachate being produced - the toxic soup when these chemicals interact together and the groundwater - was the equivalent of one Olympic-sized swimming pool every week.

“That is colossal for a highly toxic soup, a liquid that is being dissipated around that site through the groundwater. It was at times being taken away to Culmore for processing but we don’t know what is happening now. What we do know now is the contaminated groundwater is reaching the River Faughan in quantities above safe water quality levels but we are now assured that once it reaches the river, the volume of water in the river itself dilutes it to the extent it is no longer a problem.

“I would love to believe that,” he added, “but it is quite worrying in itself because if you have passed the Faughan in recent days, it is probably at its lowest water levels that I have seen it at in a long, long time and everyone knows the lower the water level, the higher the concentrations of these pollutions.

“This is a very worrying issue for us in terms of not just angling and the health of the river but the fact that 60% of Derry’s water supply comes from the Faughan and it comes from the Faughan, just over a mile, below the Mobuoy dump.

“So, even if it is not happening now, if at some point in the future, this leachate finds some preferential pathway into the river at a high level, we could be facing not only an environmental catastrophe but we could also be looking at a major public health issue. Do we want to continue taking that risk?

“What we see is a very slow movement of plans to remediate, to address what is going on. It is almost like a sticking plaster presently and it is a very expensive sticking plaster because they have spent over £5 million trying to prevent pollution getting to the river but they haven’t really carried out any major remediation that would permanently address the concerns.”

Mary McGuigan explained The Environmental Gathering had written an impact statement for the River Faughan, around The Rights of Nature - the right to thrive, the right to exist, the right to grow.

“We are very well aware the River Faughan is where we get our drinking water from and that is really why I got involved in the very first place,” she added.

“I know I need clean water. I know I need air. I know I need good nutritious food. I need good nutritious soil. Those are the key things I need and my family and community needs and between the incinerator and the Mobuoy landfill site, those were the things that really pushed me to take action.”

Michael Avila revealed The Committee on the Administration of Justice and The Environmental Gathering were developing plans for a Community Inquiry into Mobuoy dump, as a precursor to a public inquiry.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched a public consultation on a draft Remediation Strategy for the Mobuoy Site. The consultation closes on October 2, 2025.

There are two drop-in engagement events taking place as part of the public consultation process - Wednesday, September 3, 2025, in Eglinton Community Centre from 12pm to 7pm, and Wednesday, September 10, 2025, in the Millennium Forum in Derry City from 12pm to 7pm.