Illegal landfill operator ordered to pay 210k

The confiscation application was determined on October 21 2013, against Mr Guy Wentworth, 73, of Ewins Hill Farm, Aldbourne, Marlborough, Wiltshire. He was ordered to pay 209,980.00, representing the benefitresulting from his crime. This sum must be paid within six months.

Should he enter custody as a result of failing to pay the amount, the Environment Agency said he will still be required to pay the full outstanding sum together with any interest added. In addition, he has been ordered to pay a contribution towards the Environment Agencys costs in the sum of 10,000.

Mr Wentworth was convicted on March 21 2011 after pleading guilty to one charge of operating his farm as a landfill for the depositing of waste without an environmental permit or exemption certificate between April 2006 and July 2010.

Sentencing

At the sentencing hearing at Salisbury Crown Court on May 6 2011 the judge said that the repeated warnings by the Environment Agency and lack of response by the defendant made this a serious offence which crossed the custodial threshold for sentencing. For the offenceMr Wentworth was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court to a term of six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. At this hearing the Environment Agency made an application for confiscation of Mr Wentworths assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

During that hearing, the court heard that Environment Agency officers visited the farm twice in 2006 for the purposes of inspecting a lawful recycling operation conducted by a company on a small part of the farm. Whilst atthe farm they noticed that a land filling operation was being conducted by Mr Wentworth on another part of the farm, an area that did not have a permit or a certificate of exemption.

The Environment Agency said the chalk strata that underlies that part of the farm was being strip excavated and stockpiled and the void was being backfilled. The court heard that the waste was directly trucked into the landfill area both from off the farm and from the recycling facility in the farm. The quantity of fill was assessed as 36,000 cubic metres.

It added that despite the directions of officers on numerous occasions over the next three years that these activities were unlawful, Mr Wentworth continued to excavate the chalk and landfill the waste, which included raising the level of the backfilled land in places.

Clear message

Commenting on the case, the Environment Agencys environment manager Colin Chiverton said: By operating outside the law Mr Wentworth put the environment at risk as well as undermining legitimate waste businesses.

We are pleased the court has recognised the severity of Mr Wentworths wrongdoing with the confiscation order of 209,908.00. We hope this case sends out a very clear message to those who think they can carry out illegal waste activities for profit that serious waste crime does not pay.

In a report released last week (October 14), the Environment Agency said it secured 1.3 million from illegalwasteactivities through the Proceeds ofCrimeAct in 2012/13 nearly 1 million less than during the previous year (see letsrecycle.com story).