Dumping waste conviction for haulage boss William O’Grady
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE BOSS OF North Wales skip hire and haulage firm WM O’Grady Haulage and Plant Hire has been found guilty of illegally dumping construction waste at two sites.
In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency Wales, Mold Crown Court was told how William O’Grady dumped an estimated 29,000 tonnes of construction waste at two sites near Caernarfon, Gwynnedd, in 2007 and 2008.
A total of 12 charges were brought against O’Grady and the two companies he operates – WM O’Grady Haulage and Plant Hire and Gwynedd Skip Hire.
In August 2008, officers from Environment Agency Wales and North Wales Police raided O’Grady’s home at Tyddyn Whisgin in Caeathro. They found the estimated volume of the deposited material to be 27,492 tonnes. The waste was producing leachate (polluting liquid produced by rotting waste). Puddles contained bubbles of gas, believed to be hydrogen sulphide.
At the other site on farmland in Bryn Awelon, Llanfaglan, officers discovered large volumes of demolition waste.
The EA in Wales estimates that 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of demolition waste was tipped on the field. O’Grady denied the charges, and said that material was not waste at all, but a harmless aggregate.
Sian Williams, from Environment Agency Wales, says: “The defendant knew all too well that there are rules and laws to follow and he chose to ignore them.” O’Grady will be sentenced later and faces a proceeds of crime investigation.