Lismore’s Sam Shire Recycling Plant Up In Smoke
By Christy Parker | Photo: Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)
Christy Parker documents the lengthy demise that preceded last weekend’s fire.
Sam Shire Recycling Plant Lismore - Photo Sunday 13th July 2008
Sam Shires (Recycling) Ltd. entered into contract with Waterford Co. Council in 2001 to treat dry recyclables -paper, plastic, etc. at IDA site in Mayfield. The company segregated paper before sending it to India, where paper was in demand for paper mills.
In 2004, Waterford Co. Council opened its own recycling facility in Dungarvan and did not renew the 2001 contract. Sam Shires then began to operate solely under a Trans Frontier Shipment (TFS) licence, effectively acting as agents for waste exportation as against storing and/or processing it. It availed of the transport services of Railuck Environmental Solutions, UK and one Cameron Luck, who apparently has strong Wexford connections.
That year thirteen containers from Sam Shires were part of a waste consignment en route to India, that was turned back by Dutch authorities due to being illegally classified as ‘green’ or segregated waste, when it consisted of mixed materials.
According to a former clerical worker at the plant, the Rotterdam blow ultimately proved fatal, as storage and transportation cost subsequently incurred destroyed it. The worker adds that, contrary to rumour, the shipment was eventually re-exported in accordance with legal obligations.
The same source says that ‘in 2005, Waterford Co. Council continued to send dry recyclable waste to Sam Shires’ from within and beyond the county, as ‘they weren’t yet sufficiently set up to deal with it in Dungarvan’ adding, ‘They knew it wouldn’t be going out again.’ Possibly, the Council hoped to remove any such waste, which is reportedly that which remains stored outside the site, to a proposed new landfill at Garrynagree.
Sam Shire Recycling Plant Lismore - Photo 2006
It is also possible that the Co. Council was unwittingly dealing with a defunct company as the EPA permit (S.I. 165,1998), which expired on 11/10/2004, was in the name of UK Company, Sam Shire Services (Recycling) Ltd., with the address given as Mayfield, Lismore. That company was struck off in June 2005.
In any case, Sam Shire’s was in financial meltdown and so the waste accumulated. At the request of a concerned Lismore TC, the Co. Council’s health and safety personnel were dispatched but the Council ignored their subsequent recommendations. In a turbulent period, one employee was awarded €18,000 compensation (not known if received) after losing his job following sick leave.
Nolan Transport, Wexford, too had difficulty acquiring payment for services rendered. Some employees worked unpaid for ten weeks in to meet redundancy status, before Sam Shires closed in April 2006.
Meanwhile the ‘Lismore Sam Shire’s’ had already also been struck off the (Irish) Companies Registrar in June 2005, having failed to file returns since 2001. The workforce had diminished and a €230,000 invoice from Waterford Co. Council for waste management fees paid in advance but not honoured, plus another bill for €67,000 in lost Repak subsidies, were ignored. When the EPA rejected its plans for the Garrynagree facility, the Co. Council faced the additional prospect and expense of having to move the Sam Shire mess to a landfill outside the county. The total estimated bill was approximately €664,000. (Incidentally, in May 2006, with Martin Cullen Environment Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern presented the county with Public Service Excellence Award for Best Practice Recycling!)
Sam Shire On Fire
Graham Leake was long ensconced in Worcerstershire and not answering the phone. Waterford Co. Council adopted a two-pronged approach to nail him, believing it could hold him personally liable for the company’s debts. They also discovered he owns the Mayfield site and that there is a mortgage on it and in 2007 they would acqure an injunction to prevent its sale. As the outdoor waste deteriorated and allegedly became rat-infested, Lismore Town Council called in the EPA, who deemed it neither a major nor immediate liability. Meanwhile the Council maintained throughout that legal advice precluded it moving the waste,
In June 2006 the Council issued District Court criminal proceedings against Mr. Leake for non-obeyance with an instruction to move the waste. The idea was to have him either move the waste, or face subsequent High Court proceedings, which could lead to his extradition. It appears Mr. Leake eventually agreed to act and an agreement to remove the waste within six months was intended for mention in the High Court last Monday. Coincidently, the fire occurred the night previous. He may yet have to move it though, amidst reports that the tightly-baled indoor bales actually survived the raging inferno, probably due to lack of oxygen.
The Council’s second plan was to pursue a civil action against Mr Leake, relevant to recovering the remaining money owed. This is presumably ongoing, though Mr. Leake has long transferred al hi sassets, including a €1m valued home to his daughter’s name. Mr. Leake decline to comment from Worcestershire last Monday and claimed to have been unaware of the fire.
GRAHAM LEAKE’S UK PROBLEMS: In June 2005, Graham Leake’s similarly-titled Worcesterhire-based wood manufacturing plant, Sam Shire Services Ltd was dissolved, after 13 years trading. In 2004, the UK Inland Revenue had wound up another of his companies, leaving six creditors out of pocket, according to the Official Receiver. In July 2006, he was ordered by to ‘find alternative base’ for a pallet repair business at yet another company called Sam Shire (Recycling) Ltd at this home in Worcestershire.
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