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PB Donoghue guilty after waste mix-up
Page 7
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Cy Chris flnda
PB DONOGHUE Haulage and Plant Hire claims the company has been used to set an example to those illegally dumping waste after it pleaded guilty to knowingly depositing controlled waste.
The London waste management fin-n, which, until its conviction al St Albans Crown Court, had a 30-year clean record, claimed a -clerical error" led to two tippers dumping the trommel fines (waste remaining from recycled soil) on to land that was being landscaped to prevent flooding.
However, the Environment Agency (EA), which witnessed the depositing, said the firm stood to make a saving by not sending the waste to landfill. The company was fined £4,500 and costs of f5,500.
The landscaper was given a 12-month conditional discharge and fined £2,000 costs.
Speaking to CMI after the hearing, Donoghue's lawyer, Peter Stringfellow, said the judge conceded that although the offence was one committed by fly-tippers, "it is important to have in mind that the reality here is behaviour of a different category".
Stringfellow says the company is not prompted by any financial motive since landfill costs are about £240.
He adds that the company's defence was that it thought it was dropping top soil. "It was not a de
liberate act. It was just loading the wrong stuff in to the right vehicle."
The waste company has been vocal in the past over cowboy operators illegally dumping waste in areas around north London.
PB Donoghue's Les Trayhom says it was not the only firm depositing waste OD the land, but the EA swooped on it because its vehicles were liveried. The firm has now installed onsite cameras and a ticketing system to stop reoccurrences.
EA officer Victoria Owen says: "The EA will not tolerate the inappropriate disposal of waste and will take action against those operating outside of the law."