Two men have been handed suspended 10-month prison sentences and ordered to pay £175,000 in fines and compensation to landowner, Cemex UK, after illegally tipping waste at two sites in Essex.
In a trial brought against them by the Environment Agency on Friday 9 June, Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr were found guilty of depositing waste, including potentially hazardous materials, in 2012 and 2013.
An aerial photo of the Baldwins Farm site, taken on 29 November 2016 after the offences had occurred
The pair, who owned waste management company, PCS Recycling, were investigated by the Agency between 1 March 2012 and 8 May 2013, and were described by it as ‘known criminals’.
According to the Agency, during the investigation, its officers discovered an area ‘the size of 2 football pitches’, where waste had been tipped and spread, accumulating to ‘over 15 metres high’ in places.
Guilty
The Agency said at least 7,000 tonnes of waste was deposited at the site at Baldwins Farm between 1 March and 31 August 2012.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to operating a regulated facility without a permit at Baldwins Farm.
The two men also pleaded guilty to being responsible for another organised illegal tip at Bush Farm (Priory Angling Club). The Agency said the defendants were responsible for depositing in excess of 9,000 tonnes of waste at this second site. The estimated cost to the landowners, Cemex UK, of clearing and remediating the site was up to £3 million pounds.
Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr were each given 10-month prison sentences, suspended for 2 years, and along with the PCS Recycling, ordered to pay fines of £120,000 and £55,000 compensation to Cemex.
“Waste crime is a serious issue diverting as much as £1 billion per annum from legitimate business and treasury.”
Sarah Mills
Environment Agency
The sentence was imposed on the basis that the defendants had acted deliberately, the Agency said. There had been “major costs of site remediation and significant interference with lawful waste operators, whose legitimate businesses had been undermined.”
Fine
This fine is one of the highest ever to be imposed on individual defendants following an Environment Agency prosecution, the regulator said.
Sarah Mills, enforcement team leader at the Agency, said: “Waste crime is a serious issue diverting as much as £1 billion per annum from legitimate business and treasury. Since April 2011 the Environment Agency has invested £65.2 million in tackling it.
“Illegal and unscrupulous waste criminals are working with total disregard for the environment, landowners, legal waste operators and any member of the public who use the land.
“We hope this sentence serves as a message to those involved that we won’t stop the fight against this blight, and that it acts as a deterrent against those who undermine legitimate businesses within the industry.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
