A skip hire company and its yard manager have been ordered to pay a total of £30,692.27 for operating a site without a permit and illegally depositing waste on land at Sandscales Park Industrial Estate.
Following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency, John Cooper and company JJC Hire Limited were at Barrow Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to storing waste illegally at Elliscales Quarry and illegally depositing waste at Sandscales Park Industrial Estate.
JJC Hire Limited was fined £18,000, ordered to pay £4316.14 contribution costs to the Environment Agency and a £170 victim surcharge totalling £22,486.14
John Cooper was fined £3720, ordered to pay £4316.13 contribution costs to the Environment Agency and a £170 victim surcharge totalling £8,206.13.
At the time of the offences, JJC Hire Limited was unable to manage the scale of its waste operations at Cooper’s Yard. Rather than scale back, the company illegally used Elliscales Quarry to store empty skips and skips full of waste when there was no permit in place authorising waste operations there.
JJC Hire Limited also used a large area of land on Sandscales Park Industrial Estate to deposit and bury at least 80 tonnes of trommel fines from its waste operations at the Coopers Yard site under the direction of John Cooper.
Where permits are granted by the Environment Agency, clear permit conditions are set out to ensure that business operators take the appropriate steps to ensure waste is managed safely to reduce the risk to the environment. There was no environmental permit in place and the sites could not lawfully receive any waste.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “JJC Hire Limited and John Cooper are involved in the waste industry and are aware that they would need to hold a permit to treat waste.”
“Waste crime can damage the environment, undermine those who operate legally and blight local communities. These serious offences will not be tolerated and we will take action, as in this case, to pursue and prosecute offenders.”
“Like the police, the Environment Agency relies on members of the public and legitimate businesses to help us identify culprits. We would urge anyone with information about suspected illegal waste operators to call the Environment Agency’s incident helpline on 0800 80 70 60. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Charges – John Cooper
John Cooper did, on days between 22 September 2014 and 14 December 2016, knowingly permit the operation of a regulated facility at Elliscales Quarry, Dalton in Furness, except under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Regulation 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
John Cooper did, on days between 30 October 2016 and 10 March 2017, knowingly cause the deposit of controlled waste in and on land at the site known as the former Partylite Factory Site, Sandscales Park Industrial Estate, Park Road, Barrow in Furness, when there was no environmental permit in force authorising that deposit, contrary to section 33(1)(a) and 33(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Charges – JJC Hire Limited
JJC Hire Limited did, on days between 22 September 2014 and 14 December 2016, operate a regulated facility at Elliscales Quarry, Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, except under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Regulations 12 and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
JJC Hire Limited did, on days between 30 October 2016 and 10 March 2017, deposit controlled waste in and on land at the site known as the former Partylite Factory Site, Sandscales Park Industrial Estate, Park Road, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, when there was no environmental permit in force authorising that deposit, contrary to section 33(1)(a) and 33(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
