Greenock business owner fined for keeping waste motor
vehicles
15 December 2010
EXT01 – D01
Refusing to follow legislation designed to
protect the environment from pollution has landed the operator of a
Greenock motor vehicle repair business with a £1,125 fine.
Mr James Neil, trading as Westburn Autos, pled
guilty at Greenock Sheriff Court yesterday (14 December) to keeping
controlled waste, namely waste motor vehicles, without a waste
management licence.
Following a complaint about activities at the
site received in April 2009, SEPA officers visited and identified a
number of waste motor vehicles and associated waste vehicle parts
being stored at the site. After a discussion with Mr Neil it
was established that the vehicles were to be fully or partially
de-polluted and dismantled on site.
In the course of the discussion it was
explained that the activities being carried out on site required to
be licensed under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the
Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. No such licence was
registered for the site.
It was explained to Mr Neil, in writing, that
if these activities were to continue at the site a Waste Management
Licence should be applied for. The letter included the appropriate
forms and also stated that if a licence application was not to be
submitted SEPA should be informed, in writing, and steps would then
have to be taken to remove the controlled waste from the site.
However no response was received and further site visits showed a
number of waste motor vehicles still present on site, together with
motor vehicle parts and tyres.
Colin Morrow, one of SEPA’s investigating
officers, said:
“James Neil was given ample opportunity to
apply for a waste management licence to allow him to keep waste
motor vehicles at his site. We tried to help and explained to him
how to bring the site into compliance with the relevant
legislation, including informal verbal advice, advisory letters, a
formal warning letter and a statutory notice, but he did not
cooperate.
“As Mr Neil was running Westburn Autos as an
unlicensed site he was able to undercut legitimate businesses that
did hold a waste management licence and paid ongoing subsistence
fees. The activities on this site demonstrate that he showed a
blatant disregard for the regulations, which are designed to
prevent pollution of the environment.”
SEPA continues to tackle the issue of
unlicensed waste activities and is currently running a targeted
campaign, Operation Willow, which focuses on operators that carry
out dismantling and de-pollution of End of Life Vehicles without
the appropriate licensing in place.
Ian Buchanan, Operation Willow team leader
said:
“We want to help people avoid pollution of the
environment, and we work with operators to ensure they know what
their responsibilities are. However, if you are knowingly running a
site without the necessary licensing and environmental protection
measures in place, SEPA will use its enforcement powers to protect
the environment and ensure legitimate operators are not
disadvantaged.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The exact charge James Neil, trading as
Westburn Autos, pled guilty to was:
On or between 1 May 2009 and 8 December 2009
both dates inclusive at Unit 1, 11 Dellingburn Street, Greenock,
Renfrewshire, PA15 4RN you MR JAMES NEIL trading as Westburn Autos
did keep controlled waste, namely waste motor vehicles, waste motor
vehicle parts and waste tyres in or on said land other than in
accordance with a waste management licence in that you did keep
said wastes on said land without a waste management licence;
CONTRARY to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Section
33(1)(b)(i)