A North Devon haulier has been ordered to pay £13,000 in fines and costs for illegally depositing and storing waste at sites in and around Ilfracombe. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
On April 17, 2008 an Agency officer visited the Old Gasworks Yard, Hele Bay, Ilfracombe and saw piles of waste including scrap metal, wood, stone, fridges and crushed cars. The site operator, Paul Crabb, was told he could not deposit waste at the site without an environmental permit. He was issued with a formal written warning.
On February 17, 2009 a large pile of waste rubble and bricks was found at Lee Meadow Farm, formally known as Carrick Farm, Shaftesbury Lane, Ilfracombe. It had been left by Paul Crabb’s haulage business. The defendant was asked to provide waste transfer notes for the waste deposited at this site. He failed to respond.
On June 1, 2009 an Agency officer returned to the Old Gasworks Yard to speak to Paul Crabb. Despite the earlier warning, new wastes including plastics, polystyrene, treated wood, plasterboard, fibreglass insulation, guttering, bituminous roofing felt and cement packaging was at the site.
The court heard the defendant’s haulage yard lacked the necessary facilities to ensure its waste operations didn’t cause pollution or excessive noise dust or smells and did not have a permit for the activities.
The Environment Agency also discovered that a ‘substantial amount’ of waste hardcore had been taken to Honeycleave Farm, Mullacott. Although this site had permission to use waste hardcore for construction purposes, the deposits were not recorded in accordance with the regulations.
‘The defendant chose to ignore the Agency’s advice and operate illegally despite repeated warnings and left the Agency no option but to prosecute him. His customers had a duty of care to ensure that their waste was dealt with properly and he put them at risk of enforcement action by his behaviour.
His decision not to use Waste Transfer notes makes it impossible for us to trace where some of these wastes, including those containing hazardous substances, ended up and whether they were dealt with properly. We would urge the public and companies to take care with their waste and to contact the Agency for free advice if they are not sure that it is being dealt with correctly, ’ said Sean McKay for the Environment Agency.
Appearing before Exeter Crown Court, Paul Crabb, of Claremont House, Lawn Place, Ilfracombe, Devon was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs after pleading guilty to five offences including depositing and keeping controlled waste without an environmental permit, failing to produce waste transfer notes and failing his duty of care as a transporter of waste. These are offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007.
(from a press release)
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