Farmer caught tipping and burning waste
A North Devon farmer has been ordered to pay £6,000 in fines and costs for failing to remove illegal waste from land at Chulmleigh.
The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
In June 2011 the Agency received a report of waste being tipped and burned on land at Huntacott Farm, Chulmleigh. Various wastes were found in a field at the site including soil, stone and construction rubble, asbestos roofing sheets, old tyres, kitchen units, white goods, electrical wiring, glass sheets plus a quantity of corrugated iron sheeting. There was significant damage to nearby trees and bushes from burning.
When an Agency officer returned to the site in October 2011 she noticed the area where the waste had been tipped had been levelled out. There was evidence of waste having been buried including a slight odour of organic waste, similar to that found at a landfill site.
Some of the waste had partially blocked a stream and there were the remains of several burned tyres nearby. In November 2011 the Agency dug five trenches at Huntacott Farm to expose the contents of the waste tip. Numerous materials were discovered including concrete, plastics, wood, bricks, soils, foam insulation, a mattress, tarpaulin, electrical wiring, wire fencing and tiles.
In places, the waste tip was more than three metres high and sloped towards the stream. Cows were feeding nearby and scratching on the asbestos sheets. It is estimated between 50 –100 tonnes of waste had been illegally tipped.
In January 2012, Peter Ford admitted tipping waste at the farm including concrete blocks, stones and soil, but claimed the rest of it had been fly-tipped. He agreed to remove the waste by the end of October. He was warned he could face prosecution if he failed to comply with notices issued by the Agency.
When the farm was inspected again in January 2013 the waste was still there. Appearing before Barnstaple magistrates, Peter Ford was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs after pleading guilty to an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 of failing to comply with an Agency notice to remove waste.
‘Farmers must not tip and illegally dispose of waste on their land, especially near streams as any pollution can spread and harm the environment. The defendant had every opportunity to remove these wastes, but failed to do so and we were left with no alternative other than to prosecute,’ said Matt O’Brien for the Environment Agency.
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