The owner of a Wiltshire
scrapyard and recycling company has received an 18 month prison sentence
suspended for two years for running an illegal waste operation from a site in
Melksham. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
Lee Hazel, owner and director of
Melksham Metals Recycling Ltd, was sentenced yesterday at Swindon Crown Court
following two earlier court hearings in June 2014 and November 2015.
On August 23, 2011 an enforcement
officer from Wiltshire Council visited the Lowbourne area of Melksham to
investigate a report of illegal waste tipping. He found piles of chalky stone,
tarmac road planings & concrete pipes on land at Queenfield Farm beside the
old Wiltshire to Berkshire Canal.
The officer reported the incident
to the Environment Agency. At the entrance to Queenfield Farm he noticed a
trail of ‘chalky liquid’ in the road similar in colour to the waste stone he
had seen tipped at the farm. He followed the trail back into Melksham to a road
leading to Melksham Metal Recycling.
On September 6, 2011 Environment
Agency officers visited Queenfield Farm where they saw a Melksham Metals lorry
loaded with stone waste drive onto the site.
In addition to stone waste tipped
at the site, waste transfer ‘fines’ were also seen. These fines are small
particles of waste resulting from a screening process.
Following the visit, the
Environment Agency wrote to Lee Hazel at Melksham Metals asking him to provide
copies of waste transfer notes for the previous two years.
Lee Hazel claimed the lorry seen
at Queenfield Farm on September 6 was taking stone waste to a permitted site
near Chippenham. This contradicted what his driver had told Agency officers. Mr
Hazel claimed he had never tipped waste at the farm.
Further inquiries revealed that
Melksham Metals had a contract to remove waste stone from a local stone masons
yard for disposal at a licensed site. When an Agency officer visited the yard
he saw cut pieces of stone identical to the stone waste he’d seen at Queenfield
Farm.
A court heard Melksham Metals was
paid nearly £178,000 to remove waste from the stone masons yard between
November 2004 and May 2012.
The Environment Agency had warned
Lee Hazel on several occasions about unlawful waste activities including the
illegal disposal of waste at Queenfield Farm & depositing waste on land
without an environmental permit & the requirements of duty of care.
Lee Hazel had been involved in
the waste industry for 20 years & held a Certificate of Technical Competence
(CoTC) by the Waste Management Industry Training & Advisory Board (WAMITAB).
‘It is important waste materials
are stored, handled and disposed of correctly to protect the environment &
safeguard human health. The defendant in this case continued to operate outside
the law despite being put on notice that what he was doing was illegal & ran
the risk of prosecution,’ said an Environment Agency spokesman.
In June 2014 Lee Hazel was found
guilty of four charges in relation to the dumping of waste on land at
Queenfield Farm, Melksham. In November 2015 Lee Hazel pleaded guilty to a
further five charges in relation to unauthorised waste activities at his
Station Yard premises.
Melksham Metals Recycling Ltd was
also convicted of similar offences, but will not be sentenced until after a
confiscation hearing in June 2016. This hearing will decide the financial
benefit obtained by Lee Hazel & make a confiscation order in relation to that
benefit.
Fines & costs against both Lee
Hazel & his company will also be decided at that hearing.
The defendant in this case continued to operate outside the law despite being put on notice that what he was doing was illegal
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