Illegal waste dumped

From the archive, first published Tuesday 7th Feb 2006.

THE owner of a large industrial estate at Lisle Avenue, Kidderminster pleaded guilty at the town's magistrates court to six charges of permitting the illegal keeping and disposal of waste on its land.

The charges against R&D Aggregates Limited were brought by the Environment Agency under sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The company was fined £10,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,491.95.

Speaking after the case, Peter Yeomans, an environment officer involved in the investigation, said: "This case is a reminder that land owners are responsible for activities carried out on their land.

"In this instance, the company permitted the illegal storage of waste despite the fact that the agency had instructed it that this was illegal. The company tipping the waste was able to have an unfair advantage over other small building companies."

Counsel for the prosecution, Nicholas Cole, explained to the court the company rented and leased industrial units on its estate.

Between December, 2001 and November, 2002 it allowed a tenant to deposit and dispose of waste materials on open land at the rear of the industrial estate.

In January, 2002 the agency wrote to R&D Aggregates, warning the activities should cease.

The company failed to get the waste cleared up or stop further dumping. In November, 2002 the agency contacted the company again, requiring it to take measures to stop the illegal activity and clear wastes already present.

The waste dumped consisted mainly of soil, rubble, bricks, concrete and plaster.

Investigating officers also found more hazardous waste, including broken asbestos sheets, glass, tyres, drums and paint tins.

Investigations indicated that R&D Aggregates allowed its tenants, Oakworth Ltd, to operate a waste transfer operation to store its building wastes prior to bulking up the wastes for transfer to a landfill site.

This unauthorised operation was a financial saving to Oakworth Ltd, which was prosecuted at an earlier hearing at Kidderminster magistrates last November, when it was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £728.64 costs after pleading guilty to two charges of depositing waste on land without a waste management licence.

R&D Aggregates has now cleared all the wastes from the site and given strict instructions to all its tenants that waste materials can no longer be taken to the open land for storage or disposal.

In mitigation, Mr Alan Bull, of Thursfields solicitors, told the court the company was unaware a Waste Management Licence was needed for the activity.

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