BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
MATERIALS from a Trillick quarry which is under investigation by the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) for illegal dumping of medical waste is being used in the construction of the new South West Hospital.
The Western Health and Social Care Trust has confirmed that material from Barrett's Quarry at Moneygar Road, Trillick, is being used for the £267-million hospital near Enniskillen. However, a spokesperson for the trust insisted that rigorous checks of the quarried stone are being carried out regularly and that it has been ascertained as clean.
The quarry belongs to Bernard Barrett and it is the subject of an ongoing investigation following a Crown Court case last year when the owner was cleared of "keeping controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health". While the owner was cleared of any wrong-doing, it was fully accepted that illegal dumping had taken place and much of the material appeared to be hospital waste.
It was the first case of its kind brought in this jurisdiction. During the Crown Court hearing in April, 2006, the court was shown video footage of diggers lifting waste from three areas of the quarry. The materials included incontinence pads, used tissues, syringe holders, a drip bag, catheter tubing, dressings, used surgical gloves and gowns. The images also showed quantities of cardboard, plastic bags and bin-liners full of household materials as well as bottles, magazines, bubble-wrap, tin cans, conduit piping, a toilet seat and towels.
Mr Barrett did not dispute that the illegal waste was on his land and the judge directed the amount of illegally dumped waste be agreed at 13,000 tonnes. It is believed the waste material is still buried at the site.
Throughout the prosecution case, counsel for the defendant emphasised that Mr Barrett accepted there had been a deposit of illegal waste on the site but he had not been charged with that. Prosecution and defence experts gave conflicting evidence regarding the likely long-term effect of the waste and Mr Barrett was subsequently cleared of any wrong-doing.
The EHS, which brought the case against Mr Barrett, said this week that it had nothing to say about the use of stone from the quarry being drawn for use in the new hospital.
An EHS spokesperson added, "There is an investigation ongoing in that area."
The stone haulage operation is being carried out by PT McWilliams Ltd. When contacted, the company said, "The material that is being removed from Barretts is a crushed rock (inert) which is being carried out under normal quarrying operations."
Regarding further queries about last year's court case and the ongoing EHS investigation, the contracting company said, "With regard to your other questions, PT McWilliams knows nothing about this and have nothing to do with it. We cannot comment any further."
The hospital authorities verified the stone is being taken from Barrett's Quarry, but emphasised that rigorous checks are in place.
In a statement, a spokesperson said, "The contractor responsible for the enabling works at the New Acute Hospital has confirmed that freshly quarried stone is being drawn from Barrett's Quarry to be used as fill for the roads, car park and service area at the New Acute Hospital. The Western Health and Social Care Trust's resident engineer has thoroughly inspected this quarry stone as part of the on-going quality control procedures and is satisfied that the materials used at the site for the new hospital is 'clean' stone and does not contain any landfill or waste materials."
When contacted by the UlsterHerald, Mr Barrett refused to comment and hung up the phone.
