Glasgow scrap yard owner fined for waste offence
2 November 2011
A Glasgow scrap yard owner was fined £400 today (2 November) for
illegally keeping waste motor vehicles, and failing to follow
strict environmental rules designed to protect the environment.
Mr William McMullen pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to
keeping controlled waste while the waste management licence for the
site was partially suspended. The matter was investigated by the
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and a report prepared
for the Procurator Fiscal.
In September 2009 SEPA officers visited Mr McMullen's site at
Lochburn Road, Glasgow. A suspension notice had been served
previously, setting out the steps that should be taken to ensure
the site was operating according to the regulations. No new waste
motor vehicles could be accepted on to the site while this was in
place. The officers noted that the required steps had not been
taken and so the suspension notice remained. They also took a
thorough inventory of the vehicles present on site.
SEPA officers again made a comprehensive list of vehicles during
a routine visit to check whether the suspension notice could be
lifted in May 2010. This list was compared to the one taken
previously and it became clear that at least new 29 vehicles had
been brought onto the site. The conditions to have the suspension
notice lifted had still not been complied with.
Despite repeated attempts to have problems on the site resolved,
SEPA was ultimately left with no option but to recommend the case
to the Procurator Fiscal.
Stephen Cowie, SEPA's investigating officer, said:
"Mr McMullen has consistently failed to comply with the
conditions of his licence. SEPA staff have spent a great deal of
time and effort trying to bring the site into compliance, but this
has had little impact. Even serving a suspension order had no
effect, as waste vehicles were still brought onto the site.
"Waste motor vehicles contain a wide range of substances with
the potential to do harm to the environment and human health.
Coolant, oil, battery acid and other fluids can contaminate the
ground, polluting groundwater and rendering the land unsuitable for
redevelopment without costly remediation. This is why waste
management licences have strict conditions to help protect the
environment, and why SEPA partially suspended his licence until
appropriate measures were taken to remedy problems on the
site."
"Sites that flout environmental regulations can benefit
commercially from illegal activities like this. Legitimate
operators, who take the necessary steps to keep, treat and dispose
of waste legally suffer the financial burden of doing so.
Non-compliant sites, on the other hand, are able to undercut
competitors due to their lower operating costs, resulting in a loss
of potential earnings to legitimate operators."
"Prior to sentencing, SEPA officers inspected the site to assess
the level of compliance with the conditions of its waste management
licence, and reported back to the court. Whilst there are still
outstanding issues, SEPA were pleased to note that Mr McMullen has
made significant progress in improving compliance, and we will
continue to monitor the site".
Ends
Notes to editors
The exact charge William McMullen pled guilty to was:
- Between 24 September 2009 and 11 August 2010, both dates
inclusive, at 96 Lochburn Road, Glasgow you William McMullen did
keep controlled waste, namely waste motor vehicles in or on said
land otherwise than in accordance with a waste management licence
in that you did keep said waste on said land when your licence to
keep said waste had been partially suspended; CONTRARY to the
Environmental Protection Act 1990, Section 33(1b)(b)(i)