Haulier jailed after illegal waste burning
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Gloucestershire operator given 25-week sentence for running illegal waste operation at two sites
By Roger Brown
ROGUE HAULIER David Ham has been jailed for 25 weeks after he was caught burning materials at two illegal disposal sites, and allowing waste to enter a site of scientiic interest.
In an Environment Agency (EA) prosecution, Oxford Magistrates’ Court was told on 16 December how oficers irst became aware of Ham’s illegal activities at the Old Dairy in Whelford, Gloucestershire, which borders the Cotswold Park Lake, a Site of Special Scientiic Interest, in February 2010, after several reports that waste was being burnt there.
Oficers attended the site on several occasions and found large piles of waste including paper, cardboard, wood, plastics, stone, soil and metals.
A dumper truck, a grab lorry and a 360 excavator itted with a grab were seen, and Ham was told to remove the waste and stop operating immediately. However, in September 2010, the agency again received reports of burning.
On attending the site, an oficer found evidence that waste was still being transported to the site by lorry and saw waste materials being burnt on a ire.
Ham continued to ignore the warnings from the agency to stop his illegal waste activities, and in April 2010 the agency was alerted to a separate burning incident at the Farringdon Business Park in Oxfordshire.
He was also operating illegally at this location, and oficers visited the site on several occasions following complaints about ires and burning.
From April 2010 to March 2011, oficers found a number of skips illed with construction and other waste including paper, paint cans, wood and a car battery.
Large amounts of mixed wastes were also spotted deposited on the ground.
Numerous reports of ires at the site were received and the local ire service was called to attend on six occasions with one visit requiring seven units.
Agency oficers told Ham that he did not have the correct environmental permits or planning permission for the waste activities at the sites.
However, Ham continued to run both sites illegally for several months despite telling the EA that he had stopped.
The waste burnt at both the sites caused acrid smoke to billow across a roadway, a lake and a nearby park, subjecting locals to offensive smells.
Ham pleaded guilty at the court to running the illegal waste operation at the two sites. The court ordered Ham to clear all the waste from both sites by 16 June 2012.
Jack Knight, an EA oficer, says: “We hope that Mr Ham’s prison sentence sends a clear message to criminals that waste crime won’t pay.
“Operating illegal waste sites is unacceptable and can have a detrimental environmental impact on the area.” VOSA records show that Ham has been refused an O-licence to operate vehicles for his company Rapid Waste, based at the Farringdon Business Park.
Duty of care
People who permit or operate waste sites need to ensure they have an environmental permit in place to do so. In addition, skip operators who pick up skips containing controlled waste are under a statutory duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deliver the waste to a regulated site.