David and Donna Shrigley, former directors of DRS Demolition National Ltd, pleaded guilty to permit breaches on numerous occasions at the St Dennis site between April 2014 and December 2015.
DRS Demolition National Ltd, which was liquidated last year, handled construction and demolition waste on behalf of a number of customers almost exclusively in Cornwall.
Bodmin Magistrates heard the quantity of waste still at the site presented a considerable fire and pollution risk.
The waste site, described as an ‘eyesore’, is near both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation at the Goss and Tregoss moors and is owned personally by Mr and Mrs Shrigley.
It was admitted that between 29 April 2014 and 11 May 2015, the pair breached an environmental permit by depolluting vehicles, illegal storing and handling waste including plasterboard, wood, green waste and trommel fines.
According to the Environment Agency, the pair had agreed to submit a voluntary improvement plan, but failed to comply with this as well as an an enforcement notice on 22 April 2015 requiring them to reduce the waste on site by 500 tonnes.
They then failed to comply with a further notice to remove all waste by 9 December that year, and on 11 December 2015 knowingly permitted the carrying on of a waste operation without an environmental permit, the Agency claimed.
Reckless
The Court ruled that David Shrigley, formally of Carthew Farm, St Dennis, had been reckless in his offending and was ordered to pay over £6,000 in fines and costs.
Donna Shrigley, of Green Lane, Morpeth in Northumberland, was negligent in her actions, the Court ruled, fining her £4,234.
The magistrates have also issued a Regulation 44 order, with requires the two owners to clear the site within 18 months or else face a charge of contempt of court.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution, said: “The company had been continuing to accept waste onto the site which generated income, but failed to process and transfer it off site which reduced expenditure, undermined legitimate business and posed a risk to the environment. The company went into liquidation and the site remains uncleared.”
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, the former directors could not be reached for comment.
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