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£200,000 penalty after waste firm causes odour at Leeds and Bradford sites (8 March 2017)

Date: 08/03/2017
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, £200,000 penalty after waste firm causes odour at Leeds and Bradford sites

The Environment Agency has prosecuted a waste firm for causing persistent odour at its sites in Bradford and Leeds.

On Monday, 6 March 2017, Associated Waste Management Ltd (AWM) was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court and was fined £125,000, after previously admitting two environmental offences relating to its waste transfer facilities in Gelderd Road, Leeds and Canal Road, Bradford.

The company was also ordered to pay £75,000 in legal costs.

The court heard that AWM’s Leeds site caused repeated odour problems between June 2012 and October 2013 and during this time Environment Agency officers carried out around 75 odour assessments, most of these recording odours likely to cause offence to those living near by.

In October 2013 the Environment Agency suspended the company’s permit for the Leeds facility, preventing it from bringing any more waste onto the site until it had made improvements to its odour management plan. A new plan was approved that month and the permit was reinstated.

In the same year, between March and July, AWM’s Bradford site was also the cause of odour issues, which prompted local residents to complain on 49 separate dates – one resident had complained that the odour was so bad that it had made him feel sick. He also said that if there was a smell present, he could not open windows and his family could not spend time in their garden.

Another resident said that, at the time, he and his family had found it virtually impossible to have any enjoyment from their garden.

An inspection visit in March 2013 revealed that the company was not closing the shutters on a tipping shed used by bin wagons, which allowed the smell of rotting waste to leave the site.

In July 2013, the Environment Agency served an enforcement notice on the firm that required it to improve its odour management plan for the site. The company’s first revision of this document – submitted in August – was rejected as inadequate. It was not until October 2013 that a new plan was approved.

In mitigation, the company told the court that it had relied upon an external company that had approached it regarding odour suppression equipment, which had not worked.

After sentencing, an Environment Agency spokesman said:

“Waste sites like those managed by AWM can have a detrimental impact on local communities if they are not managed properly – that’s why it is vital that operators adhere to environmental regulations and the conditions on their environmental permits. In this case, AWM failed to maintain high standards of odour management at its facilities in Leeds and Bradford – and local residents suffered as a result. We hope today’s outcome demonstrates that odour pollution is not acceptable – and that the Environment Agency will take action against businesses that fail to adhere to permitting rules.”

Duncan Lewis Criminal Solicitors - Environmental Offences

Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors can advise companies and individuals at any stage of an environmental offence, including charges relating to polluting watercourses, fisheries offences, fly tipping, waste carrier offences, failing to manage hazardous waste, air pollution, noise pollution, or misuse of permitted land.

There are Duncan Lewis offices across England and Wales and in most major cities – and a Duncan Lewis criminal defence solicitor can advise at the start of an investigation by the Environment Agency or local authority and before charges are brought.

For expert legal advice on all environmental offences, call Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors on 0333 772 0409.


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