After an investigation by the Environment Agency, two men from Doncaster were charged with carrying out illegal waste activities between 2008 and 2010.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, Counsel Mr Christopher Stables told Hull Crown Court that between December 2008 and April 2009, officers from the Environment Agency visited the Middleton Quarry and observed tipping taking place on a large scale without an environmental permit.
Following initial discussions with Phillip Slingsby, owner of the quarry, about concerns over the activities taking place, a surveillance operation was undertaken. Officers observed waste being tipped and levelled on an industrial scale. The waste comprised of wood, vegetation, plastics, asbestos sheeting and other non-inert waste. Sample testing results revealed the presence of chrysotile asbestos and asbestos fibres. The nature of the waste tipped posed a significant pollution risk to the nearby water sources.
Mr Slingsby then moved operations to a site owned by Mr Robert Spencer. Between January 2009 and October 2009 Robert Spencer allowed Phillip Slingsby to tip thousands of tonnes of waste on his land when there was no environmental permit in force.
In September 2009, officers from the Environment Agency attended Mr Spencer's site and observed large scale tipping taking place.
Further visits to the site revealed evidence that a large hole had been excavated and then backfilled with waste. The waste included brick, rubble, soil, plastics and green waste, metal, wood and tyres.
In October 2010 officers from the Environment Agency conducted a raid of the site. Waste transfer notes and invoices seized suggested that the defendants made considerable financial gains from operating the site without the benefit of an environmental permit and handling the waste incorrectly.
Phillip Slingsby was sentenced to a term of 12 months imprisonment, ordered to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of £20,000 and disqualified as a director for 6 years. He was also subject to a confiscation order in the amount of £200,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 made at an earlier court hearing.
Robert Spencer, was also sentenced to a term of 9 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years and ordered to pay £20,000 in confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Charges were brought by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations SI 2010/675.
Judge Jack stated that the defendants had both acted in a way that had "put the public at serious risk." The offences were further aggravated by the fact that they were deliberate, committed in environmentally sensitive areas and financially motivated. In passing sentence, he accepted that Robert Spencer was less culpable than Phillip Slingsby. In both cases, the custody threshold was passed and, whilst the sentence imposed on Robert Spencer could be suspended, such was the seriousness of the case, it was appropriate for Phillip Slingsby to serve an immediate term of imprisonment.
Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said:
"This was a large scale waste operation where the defendants allowed waste to be brought onto land without being permitted to do so. Illegal waste sites have the potential to cause serious pollution incidents or harm human health, and this prosecution demonstrates that we take waste crime very seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute if necessary, to protect the environment and local communities."
