Tyrone
Magunda - 2-Oct-2006 - On 28 September 2006 Dhillion
Skip and Builders Merchant Limited were convicted
at Leicester Magistrates Court of 5 charges relating
to the illegal deposits and treatment of controlled
waste at their business address of 238 Humberstone
Road, Leicester.
The charges were brought by
the Environment Agency under Sections 33 and 34
of the Environment Protection Act 11000. Dhillion
Skip and Builders Merchant Limited was fined £7,500
and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.
For the Environment Agency,
Dermot Scully told the court on the 5 September
2005, Environment Agency officers arrived at the
business premises of Dhillion Skip and Builders
Merchant Limited in order to investigate the illegal
deposit and treatment of waste.
On site the Environment Agency
officers observed two separate piles of waste
that had been deposited on the yard storage area
operated by the company. In total the waste was
estimated to be approximately 30 tonnes in weight
and consisted of various types of wastes, which
included concrete, soil, plastics tarmac, brick
and rubble, timber and packaging wastes.
In addition to this waste, Environment
Agency officers also witnessed a bonfire that
was smouldering. The bonfire contained the remnants
of burned timber. A red and white liveried Leyland
type skip lorry signwritten Dhillion Skip was
also witnessed a few feet away from the deposited
wastes present at the site.
Following this, Environment
Agency officers took a series of 23 photographs
of all the observations made of the site for evidential
purposes.
On 5 September 2005, an Environment
Agency officer carried out a search of the Environment
Agency Public Register and found that no Waste
Management License had ever been issued to Dhillion
Skip and Builders Merchant Limited with regard
to their site at 238 Humberstone Road, Leicester.
On 6 October, a formal interview
was conducted with a representative of Dhillion
Skip and Builders Merchant Limited. The company
stated that they did not know where the waste
observed by Environment Agency officers at the
company’s business address had come from. The
company suggested that other individuals or companies
might have deposited the wastes at their site,
as a number of companies had keys to the site
at 238 Humberstone Road.
On 27 October 2005, the Environment
Agency completed and sent a S/34(5) Notice requiring
within ten days, written descriptions and or transfer
notes for the previous two years of waste collections
carried out by Dhillion Skip and Builders Merchant
Limited.
On 23 November 2005, a representative
of Dhillion Skip and Builders Merchant Limited
arrived at the Environment Agency’s Rothley office.
The representative presented
documentation and transfers
notes for the previous two years for waste disposal
actioned by Dhillion Skip and Builders Merchant
Limited. The information was subject of the S/34(5)
Notice issued on the 27 October 2005, requesting
a reply within 10 days. The information provided
by the company did not meet the legal requirements
set by the Environment Agency for documenting
waste transfers.
Speaking after the case Mervyn
Tongue an Environment Agency officer involved
in the investigation said: "This case involved
a protracted period of illegal waste burning.
It caused a nuisance and upset people living nearby,
who were very helpful in providing evidence to
secure this conviction. I would like to express
my thanks to everyone who helped us.
"This was an illegal act
done in full knowledge of the law by an established
company who were well aware of the laws and regulations.
This flagrant abuse of the law is wholly unacceptable."
