Shocking photos of waste site visited by Environment Agency

Two men operating the site have been jailed and a third sentenced after the Environment Agency found they were storing material illegally.

Jamie Todd, 42, of Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Thomas Todd, 33, of Hunt Street, Castleford and Bryan Walker, 60, of Beckhill Vale, Leeds managed businesses operating from the former Bowman's Site, in Lincolnshire, near the A52.

This was between June 2015 and April 2017.

Waste at the site was being stacked too closely together, creating a fire risk - enhanced by the fact the location was surrounded by arable land and the nearest residential premises were only 10 metres away.

Waste stored at the site (Image: Environment Agency)

The material also became a health risk following an influx of mice and a problem with flies.

The three men appeared at Leeds Crown Court last Friday for sentencing, having pleaded guilty at earlier hearings.

Both Jamie and Thomas Todd were sent to prison for eight months and disqualified from acting as a director of a business for five years.

Jamie Todd committed four offences - failure to comply with a permit, operating during suspension of permit, failure to comply with a T4 exemption and permitting the deposit of waste not in accordance with a permit.

Thomas Todd committed the first three of those four offences.

Both men had a previous suspended prison sentence for very similar environmental offences which the judge considered when sentencing.

Walker was given a 12-month community order with 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days and disqualified from acting as a director of a business for five years.

His offences were two counts of storing waste with a risk of pollution, operating without a permit, breach of duty of care and failure to comply with a T4 exemption.

The site's environmental permit - transferred to East Coast Recycling Properties Limited, which was run by Jamie and Thomas Todd, in June 2016 - allowed for the processing of mixed waste with a view to extracting recyclable materials.

The Environment Agency began to conduct inspections at the site shortly afterwards and quickly found failings.

The site’s permit required a fire prevention plan to be in place to avoid a serious blaze and protect the environment.

But the Todd brothers failed to have such a plan in place, leaving the site at risk.

Inspections which found the waste was stored incorrectly and was a health risk due to vermin led to the Environment Agency suspending the site’s permit.

This stopped new material from being brought in between December 2015 and February 2016.

Further visits by Environment Agency officers between March and May 2016 found that there were no firebreaks between the waste.

The company’s permit was suspended again in July 2016.

A new company, Eco Green Logistics Limited, registered an exemption to start waste work on another section of the Bowman’s site that same month.

Walker was the registered director of this company.

He also allowed too much waste into his section of the site leading to waste being stored unsafely and presenting a fire risk.

The Todds reassured the Environment Agency that waste would no longer be brought onto Bowman’s and instead the land would be redeveloped.

But evidence continued to be found of new waste being brought onto the land.

In addition, MJT Development, another Todd company, was brought in to provide on-site security and to remove waste.

The Environmental permit for the site was revoked fully in March 2017 and the businesses were ordered to clear the site fully.

The site was later searched under warrant where evidence was found to show waste moving on and off the site despite the restrictions put in place by the Environment Agency.

Speaking at the case, Judge Batiste said that fire safeguards at the site had been “non-existent” and that the defendants had “flagrantly breached environmental law”.

He added that if any part of the site had caught fire “it is highly unlikely it could have been contained”.

The Todd brothers' actions were "so serious that only immediate custody can be justified”, according to the judge.

He described the pair as the “leading lights” of the operation on the site.

Judge Batiste said Walker's actions had been “wholly reckless”.

Yvonne Daly, an Environment Manager at the Environment Agency said: “Waste crime is serious because it causes widespread and significant harm: to people, places, the economy, to law and order, and to the environment.

“Any breaches of environmental permits and illegal waste activity are taken very seriously. We will take the necessary action to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.

“We support businesses trying to do the right thing and genuinely comply, but we will issue enforcement notices, and use our regulatory powers when appropriate.

“The defendants were told to remove waste and ensure safety on the site on numerous occasions but failed to do so."

A fourth man, Michael Todd, 65, of Leeds Road, Barwick-in-Elmet will appear in court on May 25 to be sentenced on two counts relating to the site.