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