Personal Injury Solicitors

The Environment Agency has prosecuted a Cornwall-based waste disposal company for illegally storing asbestos.

Les Allen Waste Disposal Services of Perranuthnoe in Cornwall faced court action in a case brought by the Environment Agency.

The company’s owner has been ordered to pay almost £80,000 in fines and costs for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 involving illegally storing and treating waste, including asbestos, at a site near Penzance – the site manager Richard Shore was also prosecuted and ordered to pay a total of £6,000 in fines and costs for the same offences.

Leslie Allen was also ordered to pay £14,200 costs and £25,772 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Allen was warned that failure to pay would result in a nine-month prison sentence.

The storage and bulking of waste requires an Environment Agency permit.

However, Truro Crown Court heard how the defendant operated without a permit, despite receiving advice and guidance from the Environment Agency and assuring officers he would apply for a permit. The business had traded for around 18 years.

An investigation was launched by the Environment Agency in 2014, after officers suspected Les Allen Waste Disposal Services was still operating illegally. The transfer of waste was often not recorded – and when it was, the records were either inadequate or misleading.

Waste was recorded as being taken from a customer directly to an approved site – when, in actual fact, it was transported to Perranuthnoe for sorting before being taken to various sites. The business benefited financially from operating without an environmental permit, the court was told.

During its investigation, the Environment Agency recovered asbestos from a pile of waste at the site – it had not been bagged or stored in a secure container, as is required by law.

On 5 February 2016, the Environment Agency discovered Leslie Allen was continuing to run an illegal waste operation, despite having been interviewed under caution and giving an assurance he would stop. The business was operating a crusher and swing shovel on land near Sunnyvale Farm, Rosudgeon, Penzance – and was treating mixed construction and demolition waste to raise a ground level without an Environment Agency authorisation.

Sentencing Allen and his site manager, Judge Carr said the handling of asbestos was a “great responsibility” – and the defendants had exposed themselves and others to risk.

Judge Carr added that poor record keeping meant it would never be known exactly the nature of the waste that went through the site.

Sophie Unsworth of the Environment Agency said:

“Waste sites must operate within the law and always put human health and the environment above financial gain – this is especially important for sites receiving hazardous waste such as asbestos.

“Despite being given repeated advice and guidance by the Environment Agency, the owner chose to continue to operate illegally, receiving, handling and storing waste without a permit.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors

Duncan Lewis can advise those who have been diagnosed with work-related mesothelioma or asbestosis on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation.

Personal injury claims for mesothelioma and asbestosis have to be made within three years of diagnosis.

Our specialist mesothelioma solicitors can advise in cases where a former employer may no longer be trading – and Duncan Lewis also offers supportive legal advice to bereaved families whose loved one was diagnosed with work-related mesothelioma or asbestosis at post mortem and who wish to make a claim for compensation.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Asbestosis and Mesothelioma Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 0409.