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Firms fined for breach of environmental laws
THE operators of a landfill site have been ordered to pay out nearly £90,000 in fines and court costs for burying too much waste and carrying out unauthorised excavation work.
THE operators of a landfill site have been ordered to pay out nearly 90,000 in fines and court costs for burying too much waste and carrying out unauthorised excavation work.Atlantic Waste (Thornhaugh) Ltd buried 366,488 tonnes of waste at the site in Thornhaugh, near Peterborough, between January and December 2004 – 83 per cent more than the 200,000 tonnes allowed under the terms of its licence.
Peterborough Magistrates' Court was told the company also failed to supply regular activity reports to the Environment Agency and carried out excavation work which had the potential to cause harm to human health.
In December 2004 the site was acquired by Augean South. The company planned to move waste from part of the site which had been overfilled to another location within its boundary. However, the work was carried out without the prior written permission of the Environment Agency, the court heard.
The excavation of deposited waste can have a negative effect on the environment as it can release dust, offensive odours, and gas into the air and cause other problems.
Atlantic Waste (Thornhaugh) Ltd admitted four offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was fined 32,500.
Augean South pleaded guilty to two charges and was fined 15,000.
District Judge Ken Sheraton ordered that the companies will also have to pay 40,000 between them in prosecution costs.
Speaking after the hearing, Environment Agency manager John Sweeney said: "I hope this prosecution sends a message to all operators of landfill sites that they must ensure they comply with the conditions of their permits and respect the wishes of the community in which they are located."
In a statement released yesterday, an Augean spokesman said the prosecutions were the result of the overtipping of wastes by previous owners of the two companies involved.
It states: "The companies took what they considered to be appropriate steps in the removal of the wastes, overtipped by previous owners, to ensure the local residents were not unduly affected, and wished to remedy the situation for the benefit of residents as soon as possible.
"In doing so the companies accept that they breached the strict terms of their licence in failing to get the final approval for the remedial works from the Environment Agency before commencing removal operations."
Augean said that 4 million has been spent on remedial work at the Thornhaugh landfill site and that it endeavours to operate at the highest environmental standards.
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