The charges have been brought against Averies’ former director of the Swindon waste firm, David Averies, and his brother Lee, who took over from David as director in October 2014.
The alleged offences cover the period November 14 2013 to March 2014, and include charges relating the volume of waste stored at the company’s site at Marshgate, and that it was kept in an unsafe manner.
The brothers are each facing three charges in respect of the Marshgate site, as well as another three each in respect of another Averies site on Brindsley Close.
Averies Recycling went into voluntary administration in December 2014 and is now in liquidation following a major fire at the Marshgate site earlier that year in July. The firm has also had its environmental permit revoked.
The broke out on the evening of July 21 2014, involving 1,000 tonnes of general and building waste and continued to burn for around two months, with the subsequent clear-up believed to have cost in the region of £500,000.
The Environment Agency later admitted that it had raised concerns about fire risks at the recycling facility prior to the blaze (see letsrecycle.com story).
A spokeswoman for the Agency said: “The Environment Agency has instituted criminal proceedings against David Averies and Lee Averies at Swindon Magistrates Court, the first hearing of which is on the 22 June 2015.”
The court proceedings include allegations that they:
- Kept, treated or disposed of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human life.
- Two offences of breaching the conditions of the environmental permit in relation to the volume of waste stored on site and having inadequate security to prevent unauthorised access to the site.
Council investigation
Swindon borough council has set up a task group to investigate the circumstances leading to the fire, with a public meeting taking place on Tuesday (May 26), which is due to be attended by Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, the Environment Agency, Public Health England and Wiltshire Police.
The task force then intends to report back on its findings at a later date and if necessary make any recommendations for handling future incidents of a similar nature.
Speaking last week, Swindon borough councillor Maureen Penny, chair of the Task Group, said: “This is an opportunity for anyone who was directly affected by the fire, as either a resident or business, to share their experiences and views. We want to examine and review the situation and its impact as thoroughly as possible so we can establish what worked well and what could have been done differently, so we can learn for the future.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the review, we won’t be in a position to answer individual questions at this meeting. However, all the feedback will be used to help our investigation and inform any subsequent recommendations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in advance for sparing their time to attend.”
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