A Hampshire-based waste management company and one of its officers has been fined £19,960 in fines, costs and surcharges after failing to comply with 36 Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Teale Waste Management Ltd in Rosewood, Hampshire was fined £7,000 for two offences, as well as having to pay prosecution costs of £3,130 and a victim surcharge of £15. Director Barry Medlicott senior of Whitehill, Bordon was fined £750 for each offence, ordered to pay a contribution cost of £1,000 and a £15 victim surcharge. He was also banned from being a director for two years.
Andover Magistrate Court heard how the defendants received repeated advice and warnings to comply with the permit conditions at the company’s waste transfer station, however they continually failed to bring the site into compliance as requested.
Environment Agency officers found the waste levels at the Rosewood site consistently exceeded the fence height. This, along with poorly maintained litter netting, meant there was a risk of waste escaping the site boundaries. While a lack of turnaround of the waste attracted rats to the site and other breaches included prohibited waste storage in skips outside of the site and burning of waste materials.
Environment Agency investigating officer Gill May said: “The Environmental permit conditions are in place to ensure that waste facilities do not cause pollution to the environment, harm to human health and operations do not become seriously detrimental to the amenities of the locality.
“The defendants repeatedly failed to co-operate with the Environment Agency to improve their management of the site. The sentence of the court sends out a clear message to operators to co-operate with the Environment Agency and also comply with their environmental permit conditions.”
