Waste stored on the site at Durham Road in Birtley went up in flames in February 2022, five months after the Agency secured a court order to shut it down due to the risk of fire (see letsrecycle.com story).
The blaze saw the East Coast rail line and schools closed, residents told to stay indoors and “hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage” to local businesses, the Agency says. Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) deployed more than 250 officers and 10 fire engines to tackle the disaster.
Clifford Shee, 58, from Bright Street in Roker, Sunderland, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing on 26 January after previously pleading guilty to a series of waste and fly-tipping offences, the Agency says.
Mr Shee was sentenced to 30 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, the Agency says. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and undergo 20 days rehabilitation activity work with the Probation Service.
Mr Shee was also sentenced after accepting responsibility for large amounts of fly-tipped waste in Fencehouses, Sunderland, the Agency says, in a “linked investigation” the regulator carried out in partnership with Sunderland city council. For these offences, the Agency says he was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay almost £12,000 in prosecution costs.
‘Tireless work’
Following the case, Andrew Turner, environment manager for the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “Our officers worked tirelessly with our partners at the fire service to close Shee’s site after he consistently ignored official instructions to take action, disregarded our repeated warnings that a fire would break out and continued to have a blatant disregard for the law.
“The safety of the public and protection of the environment is our priority and the fire had a major impact on the community, infrastructure and air and water quality.”
The Agency says the court heard Mr Shee had twice previously been convicted and fined for environmental offences committed at his site in 2016 and 2019.
Simon Goldberg KC said on Mr Shee’s behalf that he had tried to comply with the Agency’s requirements, “hiring expensive equipment for his business and removing as much waste as he could.”
Judge Edward Legard said Mr Shee had been “reckless” and should have stopped operating when told to do so, according to the Agency.
Fire risk
The Environment Agency says waste management company Shee Recycling operated as an exempt facility for low-level waste activities which did not require an environmental permit.
During several visits by the Agency and fire service between January and May 2021, the regulator says, Mr Shee was told his site created a significant fire risk and given a list of actions to bring it back into compliance.
In May 2021, after failing to comply, Mr Shee was told that his waste exemptions had been deregistered, but he registered new exemptions, the regulator says.
During follow-up visits, Agency officers saw evidence the site was still operating, the regulator says, and in September 2021 the Agency secured a restriction order closing the site down. Mr Shee was told he would only be allowed access to clear the waste, which he the Agency says he never did.
Paul Russell, area manager at TWFRS, said: “Numerous fire safety risks were identified at that time and this incident could have been avoided if quicker action had been taken by the site owner to make the premises safe.”
Fly-tipping
The court also heard 46 black bags of waste were “dumped” at Britannia Terrace in Fencehouses on 11 February 2021, while the entrance to a pedestrian tunnel at nearby Lambton Lane was “almost completely blocked” by fly-tipped bags of waste, the Environment Agency says.
Both fly-tips were traced to Shee Recycling, the Agency says, which had been subcontracted by “reputable” waste disposal contractors. Mr Shee received more than £150,000 for these disposal services between 2018 and 2021, the Agency claims.
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