Doncaster Motor Spares Ltd based in Bentley, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to the offence on Monday, at Doncaster Magistrates' Court. The firm was fined 15,000 and ordered to pay costs of 9,516.67 to the Environment Agency which brought the case.
Barry Berlin, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court how on June 24, 2005, agency officers attended the breakers yard operated by the company, on the edge of an industrial estate, off Bentley Moor Lane in Carcroft, Doncaster.
Richard Martin, a director of Doncaster Motor Spares, a company which has been trading since 1939 and has an estimated annual turnover of 6.5million, said there were around 600 vehicles there.
ELVs
Firms need a licence to store, treat or dispose of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) because these vehicles can potentially pollute the environment. Mr Berlin told the court that the prosecution was based upon 40 burnt-out vehicles found on-site, for which there was no licence.
Some of these were filled with waste including discarded vehicle parts and lead acid batteries. Some had a black cross or ‘clear’ written on them and the officer concluded this meant they had been discarded by an insurance company.
Environment Agency officers examined 11 vehicles in detail and decided they were all ELVs and as they contained fluids such as oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze and acids, they concluded they had not been de-polluted.
Director Richard Martin, who is a member of the Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association (MVDA) and British Federation of Vehicle Salvage (BFVS), was invited for interview but said he had been advised by his trade organisations not to attend.
A letter under caution was sent to the company and in response, Doncaster Motor Spares said the site was used to store vehicles still in the ownership of insurance companies and that they were awaiting a decision on whether the vehicles should be disposed of.
Mitigation
In mitigation, Richard Banwell said that the law was complicated and the company believed it was acting lawfully. Since the Environment Agency’s visit they had obtained a licence and had spent over 2 million upgrading the infrastructure. The company had no previous environmental offences.
Environment officer Ben Hocking, speaking after the case, said: “This result should be seen as a warning that all waste must be handled in accordance with the law. Where companies deal in waste, it is their responsibility to ensure they comply with all the relevant regulations”.
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