A Somerset haulier has been fined £10,476 for illegally disposing of thousands of tonnes of waste on agricultural land near Exeter in a case brought by the Environment Agency.
In 2016 Minster Tippers deposited 4,659 tonnes of non-hazardous soil and sub-soil on a field at Poltimore, Exeter. The waste, from development sites around Exeter, was four and a half times the limit allowed by the Environment Agency under an authorisation known as an U1 waste exemption.
The maximum limit for soil and sub-soil permitted under a U1 is 1,000 tonnes. The waste was used to level off a substantial part of a field, significantly altering its character and that of the surrounding landscape.
The defendant told the Environment Agency that while they had obtained a copy of the site’s U1 waste exemption they acknowledged they had failed to comply with its tonnage limits. Richard Tugwell, for the Environment Agency, said: “The defendant breached the site’s U1 waste exemption tonnage limit for commercial gain and undermined legitimate waste operators.
"Companies who deposit waste must check a receiving site can legally accept their waste and that they comply with a site’s tonnage limits.”
