BY TOMMY NETHERY

OMAGH District Council could be prosecuted for the illegal dumping of waste that should have been taken to a landfill site.

The UH has learned that the Environmental and Heritage Service (EHS) are investigating council staff for unauthorised dumping of waste at a site adjacent to the playing fields and a residental area at Strathroy.

The EHS have said that they are "investigating Omagh District Council with regard to their staff illegally dumping"."

The environmental agency confirmed that they are in the process of preparing a file for the Public Prosecution Service, but were not prepared to elaborate any further on the probe.

Sources have told the UH that the staff being investigated had been watched by EHS field officers over an extended period, believed to be in the region of four years.

In a statement Omagh District Council confirmed the probe.

"There are ongoing investigations into alleged illegal dumping by the council on lands adjacent to the council-owned playing fields at Strathroy," the statement said. "This matter is currently subject to legal proceedings and therefore no further comment can be made at this time."

If found guilty, the council could be subject to a hefty fine and may be asked to take remedial action, which would effectively mean the digging up of the buried waste and transporting it to an authorised site.

In recent days, an individual prosecuted of similar criminal activity against the environment has been jailed for two months.