Wolverhampton Crown Court fined Ivor David John Powell (aged 65) £1,000 and ordered him to pay £4,000 in costs, along with a £100 victim surcharge, in addition to being ordered to clear the site within 3 years.
The charges were brought by the Environment Agency contrary to Regulations 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
As part of routine inspections Environment Officers visited the site on 11 November 2015, and observed a tractor operating on the land that appeared to be levelling the ground. The officers also saw large heaps of shredded mixed waste and noticed the land had been landscaped to incorporate the waste material, which Mr Powell confirmed had been coming onto the site for 4 months.
Environment Agency officers visited the site again in March 2016 and found buried compressed waste that had been imported on to the site.
The court heard that Mr Powell had avoided paying charges to dispose of the 5,335 tonnes of waste. If the landowner had taken the waste to an appropriate waste site or landfill, approximately £533, 500 of charges would have been incurred.
Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said:
Waste crime is a serious offence with tough penalties as it can damage the environment, blight communities and undermine those operating legally. This case sends out a clear message that we will not hesitate to take action against anyone that fails to comply.
In mitigation on behalf of his client, Mr Powell’s solicitor stated that Mr Powell had been naïve and doesn’t have any previous convictions and acknowledged he had avoided paying disposal costs in relation to the waste.
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