by Juliet Parish A local authority is to contest a court
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decision which ruled that a haulier could carry demolition material in some circumstances without the waste transfer note required under the Environmental Protection Act.
Wigan-based haulier Armstrong's Transport was told last week it had acted legally by transporting concrete between a demolition and rock crushing site without transfer notes. Widnes Magistrates Court accepted Armstrong's argument that the concrete was not waste because it was eventually used to fill land at the demolition site it came from. Armstrong's was also cleared of not having a waste disposal licence for the site where it crushed the concrete.
Cheshire County Council, which prosecuted the 20-truck business, plans to appeal against the decision, which it fears could be used as a precedent by carriers of other dangerous waste. "If other hauliers used the same argument as Armstrong's and got away with it there would be no point in having a waste regulation authority," says Cheshire CC's enforcement officer Eamon Murphy."We would not be able to control the disposal of basic waste adequately. You could get a situation where hauliers are carrying dangerous chemicals without transfer notes.'"
Armstong's may demand compensation for losing the haulage and concrete crushing contract which would have earned it c] profit of 225,000.
El The DOT could make hauliers prove they are licensed before being registered as waste carriers. The illegal operations working group says it is targeting waste carriers at building and civil engineering sites because they are notorious for running without 0-licences.