Skip hauliers illegally dumped waste at farm
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Waste dumped at farm site included asbestos, rubble, concrete and white goods magistrates are told
By Roger Brown
SKIP HAULIERS have been given community sentences after admitting illegally dumping waste at a farm near Doncaster.
In an Environment Agency (EA) prosecution, Doncaster Magistrates was told that oficers who carried out surveillance at Stubbs Hall Farm between July and October 2009 witnessed trucks arriving and tipping different loads, and waste being burnt and disposed of.
They also saw skip lorries belonging to Kevin and Charles Donkin from Doncaster, large tipper vehicles belonging to Colin Catton from South Elmsall, and a van owned by Tudor Auction Rooms bringing waste onto the site.
Oficers said some parts of the site were being used for landill and waste was being burnt illegally.
On 2 October 2009, a search of the site by EA staff, carried out under a warrant, discovered a landill area of be tween one and four metres deep, covered by sandy material.
The waste was a mixture of rubble, brick, concrete, wood and broken pieces of asbestos. There were other piles of waste around the site and a large depression in the ground where the remains of mattress springs, tree cuttings and tins could be seen.
On 29 October 2009, the EA took an excavator onto the site to dig through the waste. They found a fridge, car door, plastics, textiles, a cooker, carpet, rubble, wood and suspected asbestos. Samples taken away to be analysed conirmed that it was asbestos.
Four of the 11 samples were taken from waste tipped by Catton. Kevin Donkin pleaded guilty to ive waste offences and was sentenced to 15 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £400 costs.
Charles Donkin pleaded guilty to three charges, was given 140 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £800 costs.
On several occasions during the EA surveillance, they were both seen driving a skip wagon onto the site and depositing different types of waste. When asked to provide waste transfer notices to the EA to back up what they had deposited, none were provided. In interview, both declined to answer any questions.
The magistrates said Charles Donkin did gain a inancial advantage as the owner of the skip business, but acknowledged he is now in other employment.
Catton pleaded guilty to four waste offences, was given 160 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
He was seen tipping loads made up of demolition waste at the site in September 2009. Magistrates said that while he had disposed of an amount of asbestos appropriately, some did slip through.
Tudor Auction Rooms admitted one offence, was ined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,200.
John Soar, owner of Stubbs Hall Farm, will be sentenced at a later date.
Trevor Jones, from Doncaster, who was also responsible for movement and disposal of waste at the farm, pleaded guilty to one charge, was ined £100 for being involved in the burning of waste, and ordered to pay costs of £150.