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Slough Men Fined
16-10-2003 -- Environment Agency
Slough men pay over £2,500 each after pleading guilty to failing to dispose of a consignment of hazardous waste correctly.
Two Slough men were ordered to pay over £2,500 each on Wednesday 4 December, after pleading guilty to failing to dispose of a consignment of hazardous waste oils with proper care in a case brought by the Environment Agency. Kulip Jagdev, a car accessories dealer of Bath Road, Cippenham, Slough, pleaded guilty at Maidenhead Magistrates' Court to neglecting his duty of care in disposing of the waste oils, classified as special waste.
The waste, which contained used engine oil amounting to over 360 litres, was produced at Jagdev's business, Jagdev Autos Ltd. The oil was discovered by local authorities on 14 June this year at Ditton Park Road, Langley, Slough where it had been fly-tipped onto the grass verge.
Joby Wenman of Dawn Redwood Close, Horton, Slough pleaded guilty to not complying with his duty as a carrier of the waste under the Special Waste Regulations. Nor was he licensed to carry special waste, as required by the Regulations. The court heard how on 17 June Agency officers attended the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's depot at Tinkers Lane to examine approximately 17 plastic drums containing the waste oil. The drums were traced to Jagdev Autos of Bath Road, Cippenham. When interviewed as proprietor, Jagdev admitted he had paid Wenman £30 to dispose of the drums, and stated he had done so in good faith. Wenman admitted he had collected the waste oil from Jagdev but said that he had passed the oil onto a group of travellers, who have never been traced. Both defendants were unable to produce receipts for the waste to prove its lawful disposal and both failed to inform the Agency of the transfer of the waste, as required by the Special Waste Regulations. In imposing the £2,000 fine on each defendant, the court gave credit for their guilty pleas but said that these were serious environmental offences and the punishment had to fit the crime.
Agency environment protection officer Martin Sawyer said: "Mr Jagdev decided to dispose of hazardous waste at a fraction of the cost he should have paid to a legitimate operator. Within hours of Mr Wenman passing on the waste to persons unknown, the consignment was found fly-tipped. "Working closely with the Thames Valley Police and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the Agency has ensured that this serious environmental offence has not gone unheeded." In addition to the fines imposed, the court also ordered each defendant to pay the Agency £507.65 in costs and £155 each to the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead for the cost of cleaning up and disposing of the waste through lawful contractors. The prosecutions were brought under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Regulation 5 of the Special Waste Regulations 1996. |
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