Fires at unpermitted sites lead to disqualification for Averies and Lancashire Fuels 4U directors
The directors of two waste companies in Swindon and North Wales have been banned and given suspended prison sentences after fires alerted authorities to their unpermitted sites.
Paul Baison, a director at Lancashire Fuels 4U, has been banned from being a company director for seven years, and given a suspended prison sentence after a huge warehouse fire at an unpermitted site in 2014.
The court heard that Lancashire Fuels 4U intended to produce biofuel in the form of pellets and briquettes from wood initially and other waste products in the future — an activity that requires an environmental permit.
Directors Baison and Ogg were informed they required a permit to carry out the proposed activities on site and they could operate on a limited scale as long as they adhered to the strict exemption conditions on the type and quantity of waste permitted, until the permit was approved.
However, the prosecution said that they chose to ignore this advice and imported mixed waste illegally, for ‘financial gain’. Judge Rhys Rowlands said: “Where individuals choose to ignore the law with a view to making money, creating real risks to the environment and to the wider community, then custody is likely to follow.”
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had brought charges against the company directors for their treatment of waste in a manner that posed a threat to human health and the environment, after the company reportedly ignored a notice to remove several tonnes of recycled waste at the warehouse just months before a week-long fire started at the site in May 2014.
A second fire broke out at the company’s premises in Flintshire a year later in May 2015, causing 40 people to be evacuated. This was the second time in 12 months that a fire had started at that location, and involved mixed ‘recycled waste’ that posed the initial fire risk.
Returning for sentencing yesterday (31 October), Baison was given an 11-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. He had previously pleaded not guilty but had changed his plea after he became unwell during his trial. His fellow director, Peter Ogg, had pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of both offences on 29 September 2015, and sentenced to 12 months custody suspended for 21 months.
Director of NRW, Tim Jones, said: “The actions taken by Mr Baison led to at least two fires at the Saltney site which placed the health of local people at risk as well as causing environmental pollution to the surrounding area and nearby River Dee.”
“In cases like this, we have to step in and take legal action to ensure the safety of the local environment and community and create a level playing field for responsible businesses. NRW has worked closely with the site owner in the removal of all waste to ensure the site no longer poses any threat to the environment.”
A financial hearing under The Proceeds of Crime Act will be held in March to determine how much the two men benefitted from their crimes and therefore how much they should be fined.
Averies brothers convicted after major fires
The banning of Baison this week follows Friday’s sentencing of the Averies brothers, who were last month found guilty of breaching regulations and causing a number of fires.
The brothers were charged with serious environmental offences committed at their waste sites, Swindon Skips Ltd and Averies Recycling in Swindon, where there were two serious fires in November 2013 and July 2014. Lee Averies was also sentenced for a similar offence at his waste site in Calne. The sentences will be suspended for two years.
Lee Averies was also made the subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order, which effectively prevents him working in the waste industry for five years. A conviction for failing to comply with such an order carries a penalty of up to five years imprisonment, a fine or both.
David Averies, who accepted he was ‘negligent’, was ordered to pay fines of £4,208 and costs of £50,000. He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for three years.
The fire in 2013 at the Brindley Close site burned for a week and smouldered for some time after, causing disruption to the local community, businesses and delays on the nearby main railway line. The second fire at the Marshgate site was even more serious and was declared a major incident after burning for 57 days.
Immediately after the fire at the Marshgate site, the Environment Agency removed the waste carriers license from Averies Recycling —as a result, the company could no longer collect waste from local businesses or residents, and their Environmental permits were revoked, without which a waste transfer station cannot be operated legally.
Colin Chiverton, Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “Averies earned huge sums of money by importing waste onto both sites and stockpiling that waste to save on the cost of lawful disposal. They were well aware of the risks of fire and the heightened risk to the environment as a result. They decided to save further expenditure by failing to exercise proper management control of the site.”
A guilty plea has been entered on behalf of the company, which will be sentenced after a Proceeds of Crime hearing in 2017.
