The dragnet is closing on whoever's been using a section of the Royal Canal in west Dublin as a dumping ground.
The Dublin Clean Canals Campaign has brought in a barge to deal with the mess -- and they've been digging through what they found for evidence.
Green Party Councillor Roderic O'Gorman said Fingal council plans to prosecute over the dumping near Clonsilla.
Among domestic and commercial rubbish, he said volunteers found what's believed to abbatoir waste.
"A number of bags of internal organs of animals were pulled out of the canal there about two weeks ago," Councillor O'Gorman said.
"Obviously you need a proper licence to dispose of animal waste like that, so obviously someone was trying to avoid using the correct procedures for disposing of this material. It could be really damaging to the ecosystem of the canal along that particular section."
Organic material dumped in a watercourse could deplete oxygen as it decomposes, and risks killing off fish and other wildlife.
