Environment Agency secures one of highest ever fines in waste prosecution

The Environment Agency has secured one of the highest fines ever to be imposed on individual defendants following one of its prosecutions.

The prosecution related to illegal waste tipping and storage at Baldwins Farm and Bush Farm in Essex.

The Environment Agency investigated PCS Recycling and the owners, Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr, between 1 March 2012 and 8 May 2013. They were found guilty of depositing waste, including potentially hazardous materials, in 2012 and 2013.

The Environment Agency said that during its investigation officers had discovered a large area, the size of two football pitches, where waste had been tipped and spread, accumulating to over 15 metres high in places.

At least 7,000 tonnes of waste was deposited at Baldwins Farm between 1 March and 31 August 2012.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to operating a regulated facility without a permit at Baldwins Farm.

They also pleaded guilty to being responsible for another organised illegal tip at a nearby site, known as Bush Farm (Priory Angling Club).

The defendants were responsible for depositing in excess of 9,000 tonnes of waste at this second site.

The estimated cost to the landowners (Cemex UK) of clearing and remediating the site of waste was up to £3m.

At a sentencing hearling last month Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr were each given 10-month prison sentences, which were suspended for two years, and along with the PCS Recycling, ordered to pay fines of £120,000 and £55,000 compensation to the land owner Cemex.

The sentence was imposed on the basis that the defendants had acted deliberately, the Environment Agency said. There had been major costs of site remediation and significant interference with lawful waste operators, whose legitimate businesses had been undermined.

Sarah Mills, the Enforcement Team Leader at the Environment Agency, said: “Due to the complexity of the case, it took a lot of resources to get the right outcome from this investigation. Waste crime is a serious issue diverting as much as £1bn per annum from legitimate business and treasury. Since April 2011 the Environment Agency has invested £65.2m in tackling it.

“Illegal and unscrupulous waste criminals are working with total disregard for the environment, landowners, legal waste operators and any member of the public who use the land. We are determined to stop them by working with our partners in a collaborative effort. We hope this sentence serves as a message to those involved that we won’t stop the fight against this blight, and that it acts as a deterrent against those who undermine legitimate businesses within the industry.”