According to a statement from the regulator today (23 March), David Lee, 46, formerly of North Four Shires Stone Farm, Gloucestershire, was tried in his absence at Oxford magistrates’ court last week (13 March). He was convicted on three counts of waste crime.
The regulator said the court heard that Mr Lee had been living in a caravan on a farm near Moreton-in-Marsh where he was operating a commercial skip business. Activities on the site were carried out without the relevant environmental permit and included depositing skips full of waste, sorting, storing and burning waste as well as removing it for onward disposal, the Agency explained.
It outlined that the site is close to two designated nature conservation areas, one being the Cotswolds ‘area of outstanding natural beauty’ less than a mile away and the ‘site of special scientific interest’ at Wolford Wood less than half a mile away.
The Agency noted that it served Mr Lee with a notice to clear the waste from the site in November 2021, but he didn’t comply and continued his activity. It then stated that it took Mr Lee to court “having exhausted all other avenues”, which resulted in his conviction and issuing of a warrant for his arrest with no bail.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said that the Agency is “pleased to secure this conviction for running an illegal unpermitted waste operation”.
Background
The Agency said that its officers visited the site in May 2021 after reports of burning waste and to check compliance with permit exemptions that had recently been registered.
The regulator continued that they observed vehicles and machinery “consistent with the running of a skip hire business” as well as several empty and full skips and piles of different types of mixed waste. It noted that two piles of waste were “still smouldering from recent fires”.
Mr Lee broke environmental law through sorting, storing and burning waste, the Agency then outlined. Despite being told on multiple occasions that all waste activity must stop immediately and the site should be cleared, on further visits the Agency officers found that the defendant continued to operate the unpermitted waste transfer site, it said. The regulator added that burning of waste continued as well, resulting in the fire service attending on more than one occasion.
While there was no environmental permit, the Agency highlighted that exemptions were registered for the site in April 2021. The regulator calculated that the likely costs avoided by the defendant by not obtaining an environmental permit to operate a waste transfer station amounted to more than £17,300.
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