A Cheshire land owner has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £100,000 in costs to the Environment Agency for illegally landfilling tens of thousands of tonnes of waste.
Eric Hale of Bank Top Farm near Frodsham was also handed a curfew and banned from driving after pleading guilty to operating an illegal waste site without an environmental permit.
The site (pictured) processed “thousands of tonnes” of waste illegally
Dennis Whiting and Stefan Street also each received a conditional discharge for two years after pleading guilty to dumping and landfilling controlled waste without a permit.
Tracey Rimmer, area environment manager for the Environment Agency, which brought the case, stated that the prosecution demonstrated the Agency “partnership” approach to tackling serious waste crime.
Ms Rimmer said: “We have worked closely with the police and local authorities to pursue these criminals and bring them to justice. Waste crime is a serious issue diverting as much as £1 billion per year from legitimate business and the treasury.”
Investigation
Judge Simon Berkson said Mr Hale was “driven by greed to continue the illegal operation.”
During the course of the “lengthy” investigation, Hale, Street and Whiting were seen driving large waste vehicles which delivered, deposited and disposed of mixed waste, demolition waste including plasterboard and other waste including carpets and mattresses. Trommel fines were also dumped at Bank Top Farm.
The Environment Agency identified that the operation of the illegal site was closely connected with a waste company Eric Hale Skip Hire Ltd.
The prosecution for the Environment Agency stated that the majority of waste collected by the company was illegally dumped and landfilled at Bank Top Farm instead of being taken to a legitimate waste site.
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Berkson said: “Eric Hale was driven by greed to continue the illegal operation.”
The court did not accept any of the mitigation of the offending put forward but Eric Hale’s substantial personal mitigating circumstances were acknowledged by the court.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
