03/05/2005 - A Bath skip
hire company owner admitted he was ‘caught
red handed’ breaking the law when Environment
Agency officers visited his site.
Kelvin Tranter of Skip Tip Limited was today
ordered to pay a total of £5,066 fines
and costs after appearing before magistrates
at Bath.
On May 7, 2003 Environment Agency officers
went to a premises at Durcott Lane, Radford
to meet Mr Tranter who said he was moving
his business there from a site on the outskirts
of Bath. He asked if he could use the yard
for sorting and transferring waste. He was
told the site would need a waste management
licence which would not be granted because
the planning permission for the yard only
permitted the storage of empty skips. Mr Tranter
was warned he would be prosecuted if he was
found committing offences.
On July 9, 2004, acting on a tip-off, Environment
Agency officers again went to the yard. Mr
Tranter arrived in a lorry loaded with a large
empty skip shortly afterwards. Waste including
plasterboard, empty containers that had contained
adhesives, cement bags, plaster and plastic
pipes was found tipped on the ground. Waste
was also found segregated by type and kept
in bins and large bags including aluminium,
copper, lead, brass, electrical and general
builders waste. Mr Tranter said this was for
sale as scrap metal.
When asked about the waste tipped on the
ground Mr Tranter said: "You’ve caught
me red-handed."
Skip Tip Limited of Durcott Lane, Radford,
was today fined £3,500 after pleading
guilty to two offences under the Environmental
Protection Act 11000 including knowingly causing
or permitting controlled waste to be deposited
and treated on land that did not have a waste
management licence in force. The company was
also ordered to pay £1,566 costs.
"The materials deposited, kept and treated
in the yard were controlled waste. Mr Tranter
has operated a skip hire business for many
years and is well aware of his legal obligations.
He would also have been aware of the potential
serious damage that could have arisen from
such activities on a site with no infrastructure
designed to prevent pollution of the environment,"
said David Baillie for the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency’s free 24 hour hotline
for reporting environmental incidents is 0800
80 70 60.
