Loanhead man fined £360 for waste offence

4 July 2011

A former Loanhead businessman was fined £360 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Friday (1 July) for illegally storing waste.

James M Cunningham pled guilty to knowingly permitting controlled waste, namely household, industrial and commercial waste consisting of soil, rubble and general mixed waste, to be kept and treated on an area of land at Yard 2, The Clippens, Straiton Road, ,Loanhead, which had no waste management licence in place. The matter was reported to the Procurator Fiscal by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Chris Gall, Senior Environment Protection Officer in SEPA's Edinburgh and Lothians team, 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 editor

The exact charge James M Cunningham pled guilty to was:

  • Between 18 March 2010 and 26 April 2010 at Yard 2, The Clippens, Straiton Road, Loanhead, Midlothian you JAMES M CUNNINGHAM PARTNER IN A FIRM TRADING AS BEAVER WASTE MANAGEMENT did knowingly permit controlled waste, namely household, industrial and commercial waste consisting of soil, rubble and general mixed waste to be kept and treated in or on said land otherwise than in accordance with a waste management licence in that waste was treated and kept at the said Yard 2 in respect of which land no waste management licence was in place; CONTRARY to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Section 33(1)(b).