The EA visited Karen Bennett in Grays, Essex, between 9 December 2022 and 13 October 2023. Officers found piles of waste comprised of brick rubble, soils, plastic, wood and metal – including fridge freezers – on site with no environmental permit.
EA officers presented the woman with advice and guidance, but the waste was later found to have been burned and buried.
The agency warned that incorrectly stored, treated or disposed of waste poses a serious threat to the environment. In this case, poorly stored and treated waste posed a risk to human health and the environment.
The woman’s tenant was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment on 12 January 2024 and had to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, solicitor Sarah Dunne told the court that “although Bennett had not carried out any of the waste activities herself, she had provided the land, continued to accept rent from James, and turned a blind eye to his offending.”
Sentencing Bennett, the presiding magistrate told her there was a “repeated failure to carry out things responsibly. You were reckless. You could have done a lot more.”
Lesley Robertson, East Anglia area enforcement team leader, said: “Despite the Environment Agency outlining Bennett’s responsibilities as a landowner, she continued to permit the illegal deposit, storage and treatment of waste on her land without an environmental permit.
“Miss Bennett received payment from her tenant with little or no regard for the environment. By imposing this sentence, the magistrates have demonstrated how seriously they viewed her behaviour.
“We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will not hesitate to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.”
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