Waste site was out of control
Conditions
In December 2017 Highgate Services Ltd (H) took over the environmental permit for a waste transfer site at Trevol Business Park at Torpoint, Cornwall. The site was managed on behalf of H by Adam Wilcott (W) who had a past involvement in running the site, having been a director of the former site-operating company.
The permit allowed the acceptance of various non-hazardous wastes such as stone, rubble, wood, plastics, construction material, metal and household. The waste was to be sorted and any materials of value sold on for reprocessing, reuse or recovery.
Inspections
Environment Agency (EA) officers visited the site in January 2018 and found it to be in a very poor state. There was unsorted waste on adjoining land, a drain was overflowing with contaminated run-off and skips were loaded with waste outside the permitted area.
As a result, H received a Compliance Assessment Report, citing five breaches of its site permit. Between April and August 2018 four subsequent inspections led to further notifications. However, no attempt was made by the site operator to rectify the deficiencies.
Compounding the situation
W was not co-operative. Not only was he complicit in the problems identified, in July 2018 he purposely locked the gates to deny access to an EA officer. A few days later the officer returned and found that the site appeared to be out of control, with tonnes of mixed waste spilling out of skips.
Tip. Deliberately locking a premises to prevent access by the EA is “obstruction”. When briefing managers and supervisors who are likely to meet enforcement officers, ensure they understand that a powers of entry card means they have the authorisation to come on to site and look at any areas or records they need to.
Paying the price
H was served three separate enforcement notices requiring it to reduce the amount of waste being stored on site, two of which were not complied with.
H and W pleaded guilty to four offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 . These included not operating a management system that reduced the risk of pollution and failing to comply with an enforcement notice. H was fined £18,800, with costs of £2,338.
W received a twelve-month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £2,308. Additionally, W was given a criminal behaviour order which prevents him from taking part in any waste business activities for five years.
Tip. Ensure that any manager responsible for complying with your environmental permit is on board with your expectations. If they flout the law, you could be standing in the dock alongside them.
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