THREE men have been ordered to pay more than £262,000 for illegally dumping more than 60,000 tonnes of waste near Plymouth.
Waste hauler Andrew Duncan, who runs haulage company Dunchaul Limited, based in New Road, Landrake, and farmers David Stroud and Darren Pearce were ordered to pay the money which includes fines, proceeds of crime payments and costs after dumping demolition and construction waste on two farms.
Nearly 66,000 tonnes of waste was deposited between Stroud's Axford Farm, in St Germans Road, Callington, and Pearce's Lower Trebrown Farm in Lower Trebrown, Saltash, and both were only eligible for 1,000 tonnes of sub-soil and 5,000 tonnes of concrete, rubble and bricks.
Truro Crown Court heard an Environment Agency investigation found Stroud and Pearce were involved in Duncan tipping the waste at the farms which were known locally as "Dunchaul's tips."
"Waste crime can cause serious pollution to the environment, put communities at risk and undermines legitimate business and the investment and economic growth that goes with it," said Environment Agency spokesperson Sophie Unsworth.
"We take tough action against poor performing companies and those who commit waste crime."
Environment Agency permission is needed to deposit waste on land and when waste is transferred it legally must be accompanied by waste transfer notes which are correctly completed, distributed and retained by all parties involved.
Judge Simon Carr heard that experienced haulier Duncan would be well aware of these conditions.
At Axford Farm one field had poor drainage so Stroud wanted to raise its level to improve it. The building of a new Tesco store nearby produced a large quantity of excavation spoil and this was used for the project from June 2010.
The court heard there was no construction project, as land-raising is not classified as construction and the material deposited was way in excess of 1,000 tonne limit. Some of the waste slipped into a nearby stream.
Dunchaul tipped at Axford Farm for a year before making arrangements with Pearce and tipping on Lower Trebrown Farm to help with building tracks linking to parts of the land. No planning permission was applied for before the work.
From July 2011 to September 2012, 37,219 tonnes of waste were deposited. According to Waste Transfer Notes supplied by Dunchaul, only 20,565 tonnes were delivered.
The Environment Agency said the discrepancy between Dunchaul's records and those of the other parties were clear evidence of a breach of the duty to accurately keep waste transfer notes.
Judge Carr said legislation was there to ensure waste was deposited in proper landfill sites but this case was "a long term avoidance of rules and regulations."
He said: "Substantial amounts of waste went to two farms which were paid to receive the waste. This was obviously done to increase the profitability of the company over a significant period of time and was well organised."
He added the only purpose for Duncan was for financial gain through winning contracts by undercutting legitimate haulers. He wanted the fines to reflect there is no profitability in illegal activity.
Darren Pearce was earlier fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs for operating a regulated facility without a permit. He was also ordered to make a proceeds of crime payment of £59,500.
Stroud was fined £5,000 for also operating a facility without a permit, with £5,000 costs and a £30,000 payment under proceeds of crime legislation.
Dunchaul Limited and Andrew Duncan were fined £30,000, with costs of £20,000 for failing to comply with a duty of care in respect of waste transfer notes, depositing waste without a permit and permitting the depositing of controlled waste without a permit . For proceeds of crime, Duncan and his company were ordered to pay £100,000.
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