Man receives suspended sentence for waste offences near Hull
An East Yorkshire man received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation and costs, after illegally storing hazardous waste including flooring materials with the appearance of containing asbestos and running an illegal waste site in Aldbrough.
Evidence of waste found at the site
Stephen Coates, (aged 58), of Souttergate, Hedon, appeared at Hull Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 29 June after earlier pleading guilty to two charges.
Coates received a custodial sentence of 17 weeks for each charge to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months, ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation and costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the case, and an order to clear a waste site within 12 months.
The court heard how Coates is the owner and operator of a site on Hull Road on the outskirts on the village on Aldbrough. An investigation by the Environment Agency found Coates was storing abandoned corroding chemical drums, intermediate bulk containers, shipping containers, old tyres and flooring materials with the appearance of containing asbestos on his land next to a residential house over a period of five years from March 2017 to March 2022.
He failed to remove the waste when ordered to do so after the Environment Agency served him with a notice.
The Environment Agency cleared some of the waste at its own cost (£120,000) but 60 tonnes of chemicals remains on the site.
Mr Coates was then charged with operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit and storing waste in a manner likely to cause harm to human health and pollution of the environment.
In sentencing, the District Judge said this case was reckless with a willful disregard for the environment. The defendant had been ordered to clear the site, failed to do so, which meant there were significant clean-up costs to be covered by taxpayers.
In mitigation, it was acknowledged that Coates had entered guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity.
Following the hearing, an Environment Agency spokesperson said:
The seriousness of this sentence sends out a message that waste crime will not be tolerated.
Waste criminals undercut legitimate business, damage our environment, and are a blight on local communities. We encourage people to report any illegal waste activity to our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807060.