Two waste companies and a director have been fined £25,000 after illegal burning was discovered in a surveillance operation.
Complaints from residents led to Environment Agency officers investigating fires at skip hire firms Grantscope Ltd and RG Wastecare, both of Boulder Bridge Lane, Carlton.
On March 10 last year, officers saw three or four skips of waste alight, accompanied by explosions which generated smoke seen 600m away. Shortly afterwards officers saw a vehicle leaving the site which was traced to one of the defendants, John Clifford.
Three more fires were witnessed between March and April when the same vehicle travelled to the site. Afterwards officers saw an orange glow, then flames.
On April 15 in a surveillance operation officers saw the same car entering the site at midnight and almost immediately a fire started. Clifford was arrested and during interview admitted starting the fire but said he was acting on the orders of Dean Ryder, who is a director of the companies.
Each firm was fined £10,000 at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for breaching their environmental permit by repeatedly burning waste.Ryder, of Doncaster Road, was fined £5,000. Clifford, an employee of RG Wastecare Limited, of Lewis Road, Lundwood, was fined £200.S
entencing the defendants, District Judge Sheila Driver said she was satisfied the fires were deliberately lit and were financially motivated. She said there were efforts made to avoid detection of the fires. Both companies and Ryder and Clifford were ordered to pay £15,076 costs.
Brad Haystead, of the Environment Agency, said: “Boulder Bridge continues to be a high priority area for the Environment Agency.
“Our officers spend a lot of time and effort working with operators and partners to improve the environment and minimise impact on the community but in cases like this where there is deliberate serious offending we’ll use our enforcement powers to take action.”
