Following an Environment Agency prosecution, a Teesside-based haulage and waste management company has been fined £36,000 for illegally depositing waste.
According to a statement from the Environment Agency, Scott Bros Ltd (company number 06329873) pleaded guilty to offences relating to the illegal deposit of waste on the site of a former landfill outside Thorpe Thewles, Stockton-on-Tees.
Some of the waste deposited on the former landfill outside Thorpe Thewles, Stockton-on-Tees
The Agency says its officers discovered in November 2018 that almost 4,000 tonnes of material had been illegally deposited on the land.
However, a spokesperson for Scott Bros told letsrecycle.com that this was down to a delay in seeking a permit from the Environment Agency due to an administrative error, and no harm was caused to the environment.
The case was held at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 7 December. Magistrates fined the company £36,000 and ordered them to pay prosecution costs of £6,720.63.
John Crowl, enforcement team leader at the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “This case demonstrates how seriously we take waste crime and the tough penalties in place if operators do not abide by the law. Not only does waste crime damage the environment and have a negative impact on communities, but it undermines those operating legitimately.
“As an experienced company which already has a number of environmental permits, Scot Bros Ltd knows the process involved in applying for a permit and the reason why it’s so important to protect the environment.”
‘Environmentally safe operations’
A spokesperson for Scott Bros said: “The company was undertaking work on behalf of the landowner to cap off an unregulated former council landfill site, where waste mass was rising to the surface.
“The site itself has full planning permission, and all relevant waste assessments were completed prior to the laying of British Standard certified inert materials.
“We are committed to undertaking environmentally safe operations and have reviewed our administrative procedures to ensure we meet the highest standards of compliance that has been the mainstay of the business over the past 50 years.”
Grazing
The Agency says that in 2017 a landowner approached Scott Bros to raise and level a 2.5-hectare field off Durham Road with inert soil and stone to improve its use for grazing.
“This case demonstrates how seriously we take waste crime and the tough penalties in place if operators do not abide by the law”
After obtaining conditional planning approval from Stockton-on-Tees borough council in May 2018, the company failed to apply to the Agency for an environmental permit before starting the work.
The Agency says officers responded to a report from a member of the public in November 2018 and discovered that waste contaminated with plastic and metal had been deposited, along with bricks and disused road planings, which had to be tested to ensure they were not hazardous.
Scott Bros was immediately told to cease operations at the site so it could be investigated. The company produced paperwork showing the origin and details of the waste that had been deposited, but the Agency says its enquiries with other companies revealed that considerably more lorry loads of material had been transported there.
Environmental permit
The court agreed the company had acted “recklessly”, the Agency says, and had stood to gain a significant advantage over a lawfully operated site.
Prosecuting for the Agency, Chris Bunting told the court that the land’s previous use as a landfill meant a specific environmental permit application needed to be made so the site’s intended use could be monitored.
The Agency says that in mitigation the court heard Scot Bros had a previously unblemished regulatory history. During interview a director had said that the failure to apply for a permit had been an oversight, the Agency says, and that the company had “jumped the gun”. The court was told the company mistakenly did not think it needed a permit for this particular site.
Haulage and plant hire
Scott Bros is a haulage and plant hire business established in Thornaby-On-Tees in 1971.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
