Livingston Sherriff Court heard that the company had illegally stored several hundreds of tonnes of waste at the site near Cambuslang between January 17 2010 and February 11 2010, but the company has argued that it has not broken any laws.
Doonin Plant Ltd, owned and run by Gary Doonin, 47, had also been handed a 90,000 fine by SEPA for a similar conviction in 2010. Mr Doonins sentencing was suspended for one year, but he was warned that he may face a prison sentence if further pollution offences are committed.
The guilty verdict was returned on September 13, but sentencing was deferred until last week as financial reports into the company needed to be carried out.
Speaking in the wake of the Judges decision a spokesman for the company claimed that Doonin Plant Ltd had been subject to persecution and harassment by SEPA, and said that the company still maintained its innocence.
Appealing
He said: We are definitely going to be appealing the conviction, we feel that none of the evidence against us suggests that pollution was caused. The site had 10 waste management licence exemptions, this allowed us to store several thousand tonnes of waste at the site in order to carry out a recovery, recycling or reuse process.
There was no evidence of pollution and nobody died or was injured, for which much lower fines have been issued. One charge was for disposing of waste in a manner likely to cause pollution, for which we were found not guilty and disposing of waste not in accordance with a waste management licence, for which we were also found not guilty.
The spokesman said that the company had taken the decision to make 52 staff redundant as a result of the conviction.
Environment
Ian Buchanan, area manager for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said: Today, justice has been done for Scotlands environment. The sentence delivered is a positive result for the public, who care about the environment, and legitimate waste operators who have been undermined by the actions of Mr Doonin and Doonin Plant Limited. By carrying out such activities, the company and its director demonstrated a complete lack of consideration for the environment and we hope the sentence acts as a deterrent to any operators considering breaking the law.
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SEPA has worked closely with our colleagues at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to see this complex case reach a positive conclusion and will continue to do so to bring those who commit environmental crimes to justice.
The conviction of Mr Doonin himself should also act as a warning to company directors that SEPA will consider offences committed by individuals when investigating environmental crimes.
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