North East man sentenced for waste offences
Stephen Fenwick has been handed a suspended prison sentence following an Environment Agency investigation.
Waste on site at the Middlesbrough industrial units.
Fenwick, 57, of Court Road, Middlesbrough, appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 6 July, where he was sentenced for operating a waste transfer station without an environmental permit and failing to provide information to Environment Agency officers. He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, Karen Warner told the court that between January and November 2020 Fenwick, who operates as CPR Skip Hire, was running a waste facility at Bolckow Industrial Estate, Grangetown, Middlesbrough.
A waste transfer station is an operation where waste is deposited, sorted into different types and then moved on to a landfill or recycling facility. They require a permit from the Environment Agency to protect the environment and communities.
Officers visited the site
An Environment Agency officer visited the site at the start of January 2020 where he saw 10 skips containing mixed waste including wood, plastic door and window frames, tyres and domestic appliances.
A fortnight later officers attended to speak to Fenwick on site, where he confirmed he was operating at the site as CPR Skip Hire. He said the skips on site had been there for months but the officer saw additional waste there from the previous visit – including Christmas trees.
Fenwick was advised to remove the waste. A further visit on 3 March showed the site had only been partially cleared and Fenwick was given more time to clear the site.
During additional visits later in the year officers saw further evidence of waste storage and sorting taking place, and when asked to produce waste transfer notes for the waste removed from the site he said he didn’t have any and offered to fabricate some. In September, Fenwick was issued with a notice to provide the waste transfer notes for between 1 January and 23 September 2020 but these were not forthcoming.
Christmas trees were among the waste stored on site
Site is now cleared
On the day of sentence Fenwick provided evidence which showed the site had now been fully cleared of waste. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, as well as 10 days of rehabilitation activity and an 8-week 7pm to 7am curfew. He was also fined £480, ordered to pay more than £4,000 in costs and a £122 victim surcharge.
John Crowl, Enforcement Team Leader for the Environment Agency in the North East, said:
Fenwick deliberately breached the law and despite being given a number of opportunities to clear the site and produce the relevant notes he continued to have a flagrant disregard for regulations which are in place to protect the environment and communities.
This result sends out the message to others that we take waste offences extremely seriously and reinforces our commitment to taking action against those who flout the law.
Waste offences can be reported to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour Incident line on 0800 807060