Richard Woollard - 31-Aug-2007
- Four tonnes of asbestos roof sheeting
was illegally stored on land owned by Anthony
Julian West in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire
and on Thursday 30 August he was fined £8000
and ordered to pay £1359 costs for
two offences at Bedford Magistrates’ Court.
The first offence related to storing the
asbestos without a licence and the second
offence related to the removal of the asbestos
from a farm in Odell without notifying the
Environment Agency.
Waste roof sheeting containing asbestos
is classed as a hazardous waste because
asbestos can cause cancer and other respiratory
diseases so there are strict requirements
for its movement from the site of origin
to its final disposal point and this should
be notified to the Agency.
The offences came to light, magistrates
were told, because staff from the Agency
were aware that a barn with a cement bonded
sheet roof at Odell was being demolished
and knew there was a strong possibility
that asbestos would be present.
Investigations led them to land off Park
Lane at Sharnbrook which belonged to West.
He originally denied carrying out any demolition
work at Odell, then agreed that he had taken
away scrap metal from the Odell site but
not asbestos roof sheeting. He did not have
any paperwork relating to the removal of
the scrap metal.
Two officers revisited the site to search
for roofing sheets and found some at the
back of the yard. It was on that visit that
West admitted the sheets had come from the
Odell site. It took him nearly three weeks
to admit that there was no paperwork relating
to the asbestos.
At a following interview West said he was
keeping the asbestos until there was a bulk
amount to take for disposal in order to
reduce the cost.
Magistrates were told that West had put
the owner of the Odell site at risk of prosecution
for breaching his duty of care obligations
to make sure his waste was taken to a proper
place for disposal. West had told him that
part of the cost for demolishing the barn
was to pay the high cost of disposing of
asbestos.
West had not had the roof sheeting checked
for asbestos and was reckless as to whether
or not it did contain any.
After the hearing Environment Officer Laith
Yasseen said: ‘By bringing this case to
court we hope to draw attention to the importance
of disposing of waste correctly and that
waste producers must take their responsibilities
seriously and stick to the rules.’
West pleaded guilty to:
1. On or about 22nd February 2007 you did
keep controlled waste, namely asbestos cement
bonded roof sheeting on land off Park, Lane,
Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, when there was
no waste management licence in force authorising
the keeping of such waste.
Contrary to s33(1)(b) and s33(6) Environmental
Protection Act 11000.
2. On or about 22nd February 2007 you removed
hazardous waste, namely asbestos cement
bonded roof sheeting, from premises, namely
North End Farm, High street, Odell, Bedfordshire
at a time when those premises were not notified
as producing such waste or exempt from such
notification.
Contrary to regulation 22 and 65(b) of
the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales)
Regulations 2005.
