New hotline to help combat illegal dumping in South Tipperary
South Tipperary people who want to report illegal dumping and environmental pollution incidents in the county can now do so at any time of the day thanks to a new 24 hour complaints phone line.
The round the clock environmental hotline -1850 365 121 - set up by the Environmental Protection Agency in co-operation with South Tipperary Co. Council is a six month pilot service operating since June.
South Tipperary is one of just four local authority areas operating the hotline in the country. The areas trying out the service are Dublin and Cork cities and Donegal.
If the hotline is used widely enough, the EPA hopes to make it a permanent service and roll it out to every local authority area in the country. Seventeen complaints have been received by the 24-hour phoneline covering South Tipperary since June.
The calls were mainly about incidents of illegal dumping, backyard rubbish burning and discharges to water courses.
According to the EPA, almost 40 per cent of the calls received since June were made outside office hours. “The phoneline ensure there is a person available to take such calls at all times no matter what time of the day or night. The service will complement current local authority environmental complaint handling procedures,” explained EPA spokesperson Niamh Leahy.
Members of the public phoning in complaints to the hotline will be answered by an operator round the clock, seven days a week. The operator records details of the complaint and it’s forwarded to the appropriate investigating authortity.
This pilot line is the latest initiative by the Environmental Enforcement Network which includes the EPA, all local authorities, the Gardaí and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
During normal business hours (9am-5pm), urgent complaints and information are passed on to the relevant local authority, the Gardaí or the EPA.
All other complaints are forwarded to the local authority/EPA the following day. Outside normal business hours, non-urgent complaints are logged and forwarded to the local authority or the EPA the following working day or the following Monday in the case of weekends. Urgent complaints reported out-of-hours are immediately passed to the Gardai, the local authority or EPA as appropriate.
Niamh Leahy said it was possible to provide information confidentially but she stressed that callers will be encouraged to provide their contact details so local authorities can, if necessary, follow-up with them in relation to the information supplied to assist them with any investigations.
By calling the 24 hour lo-call telephone number 1850 365 121, residents of South Tipperary can report environmental complaints, upon which the local authority, the Gardaí or the EPA will follow up on the information, as appropriate. The is an extension of the “Dump the Dumpers” hotline, a 24 hour lo-call telephone number for complaints about illegal dumping of waste that is operating in all local authority areas for three years.
