Fines totalling £113,500 have been handed out to seven companies following investigations by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) into a site in South Lanarkshire.
The site at Bardykes Bing, located between Cambuslang and Blantyre, is operated by Doonin Plant Limited. They pled guilty last year to disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
Five other companies also pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court, on various dates, to depositing controlled waste on the site when no waste management licence was in force:
- C.E.P. Demolitions Limited – fined £7,500 on 29 September 2009.
- JCJ (Demolition and Construction) Limited – fined £2,500 on 15 February 2010.
- George Hunter (Demolishers) Limited – fined £6,000 on 4 March 2010.
- E. Nicholson & Sons (Metals) Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.
- St Andrews Demolition & Construction Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.
One further company pled guilty to failing to provide SEPA with waste transfer notes for waste sent to the site:
- Enviroclean (Scotland) Limited – fined £3,000 on 25 November 2009.
Iain Cruickshank, SEPA's Unit Manager in South Lanarkshire, said: "Every company dealing with waste is under a duty of care to regularly review operating practices and check the public register to ensure they are complying with legislation. The six companies prosecuted for using Bardykes Bing during our investigation may have been told the waste could be accepted, but they never actually checked to make sure a waste management licence was in place. If anyone wants to check whether a site they plan to use has the appropriate licences in place they can contact SEPA ."
"Long established companies know that sites with waste management licences are strict with the types of waste taken on to site and the procedures involved in segregating the waste. Licensed sites have unloading bays where different types of waste are held, ensuring total segregation of the waste."
"The methods adopted at Bardykes Bing were contrary to the good practice that should be adopted at waste management sites, and any company that has been involved with the waste industry should be well aware of their environmental duties and responsibilities."
Source – SEPA
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