Vehicle linked to fly tipping seized by the Environment Agency
Environment Agency officers and Kent police officers have seized a vehicle after raiding a farm near Iwade in Kent on 25 February 2021.
The 8-wheeled tipper truck seized is believed to have been used to fly tip waste in Rainham, Kent.
The owner of the seized vehicle has until 18 March 2021 (15 days from the date of a seizure notice) to claim to have the truck returned to them. If no legitimate claim is made, the vehicles will be sold or crushed.
The Environment Agency has issued a statement, stating that:
“This sends out a strong message that we will use all our powers possible to stop waste crime which harms the environment, wildlife and the community, as well as undermining the work of companies that operate legitimately.
To help avoid your waste ending up at an illegal waste site, we encourage you to ask for your waste collector’s waste carrier’s registration number and ask to see their waste transfer note, they must have these.”
Enforcement Powers
The Control of Waste (Dealing with Seized Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 enable the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to seize and impound vehicles, trailers, mobile plant and their contents without a warrant if they suspect:
- waste is being carried without a valid waste carriers licence;
- the vehicle has been or is about to be used in an alleged waste crime offence; and
- the waste duty of care is being or has been breached.
Landowner fined for neglecting riverside wall in Bristol
A landowner has received significant fines after a disintegrating boundary wall presented an increased risk of flooding.
An earlier inspection of the southern boundary wall at the Windmill Farm Business Park in Bedminster, Bristol found it was in poor condition. Sections of the wall had collapsed into the Malago Brook, a tributary of the Lower River Avon. The remainder of the wall was also at risk of failure. The watercourse affected is classified as a main river.
The Environment Agency was concerned that masonry and other debris from the disintegrating wall could be washed downstream, increasing flood risk to a large number of properties.
In 2009 the landowner, Maysouth Ltd, applied to the Environment Agency for permission to carry out repairs to the wall. The application was refused on the grounds the company had failed to provide sufficient information. Permission was granted for certain temporary works however, including the installation of scaffolding wall props in the river channel.
In 2011 the Environment Agency decided to install a trash screen where the Malago Brook enters a culvert. This would prevent debris being carried downstream to the confluence of the Malago and Lower River Avon, where it could block or force open a tidal flap. It was not possible to install the screen because of the poor condition of the retaining wall. The Agency decided to delay any in-river works until the repairs had been completed.
Following a site meeting in December 2011, Maysouth Ltd said it no longer believed the wall was its responsibility and would not be carrying out any repairs. The company claimed maintenance of the wall and any repairs lay with Bristol City Council. This view was challenged by the council. Therefore, responsibility fell to Maysouth Ltd as a riparian owner.
In September 2014, the Agency served Maysouth Ltd with a legal notice requiring it to repair the wall. Following further site visits and unsuccessful discussions, the Agency served a second notice in May 2016 with a 6 month deadline. When officers returned in December 2016 the wall still hadn’t been repaired and three sections had fallen away. Temporary scaffolding supports were still in place and there was debris in the river channel.
Maysouth Ltd were subsequently prosecuted to ensure future compliance. Two years later in May 2018, the company finally accepted it was responsible for the wall and half the riverbed and that it had not complied with the notice.
Despite the earlier conviction, Maysouth Ltd, failed to carry out the repairs so were brought back to court in 2020. Appearing before Bristol magistrates, the company contested that a further daily penalty should be imposed for non-compliance. The court disagreed.
Penalty
As a result of the court proceedings, Maysouth Ltd was fined £26,760 and ordered to pay £10,585 costs for continuing to fail to comply with a notice served in May 2016.
Potato grower enters into enforcement undertaking following river pollution
The discharge of sludge into a stream during the cleaning of a factory led to a pollution incident and an enforcement undertaking agreed with the Environment Agency.
During routine weekend cleaning of the company’s factory in Worstead in September 2019, sludge was allowed to flow into the Smallburgh Stream. As adequate monitoring measures were not in place, the sludge was not detected was pumped away, making its way through a network of tanks, to discharge into the river.
Enforcement Undertaking
Albert Bartlett and Sons (Airdrie) Ltd offered an enforcement undertaking to the Environment Agency, which was accepted. This involved a payment of £14,000 to the Norfolk Rivers Trust. The company also had to pay costs, including those of the Environment Agency.
The money donated to the Norfolk Rivers Trust will support the charity’s work in creating aquatic habitats, conservation and restoration, education, and providing advice on land management and farming.
The Environment Agency accepted the offer from Albert Bartlett and Sons Ltd in recognition of a number of factors. These included the fact that the pollution was limited and had no lasting impact on the stream, that the discharge was the result of negligence rather than dangerous or foolhardy behaviour, and that the company had since spent a lot of money on infrastructure and systems improvement to prevent a recurrence.
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