Mr Carl Dean was prosecuted in Newport Magistrates for environmental offences under section 34 (1) (b) and (1) (c) of the Environment Protection Act 1990. The offences relates to persons that imported, produced, carried or kept, treated or disposed of controlled waste and failed to take all reasonable measures to prevent the escape of the waste from his control.
He pleaded guilty and has been fined £1000.00, ordered to pay £350.00 in court costs and a victim surcharge of £100.00.
In this case, Mr Dean was paid to remove waste from a house renovation and the waste was tipped illegally. Mr Dean had reported that he had paid a sub-contractor to dispose of the waste but had a duty of care to keep a written record of this action which he failed to do so.
Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Environment Garth Collier from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council said:
“Fly tipping is an anti-social and dangerous problem which costs thousands of pounds every year to clear away. It is unsightly and pollutes our environment. There is no excuse for knowingly fly-tipping or dumping rubbish. The Council will investigate complaints with trained, experienced enforcement officers and if we find sufficient evidence to enable a prosecution we will pursue one.
“These cases also show that you don’t always have to physically dump the waste yourself, you can be negligent in other ways which can lead to a prosecution for fly-tipping such as not checking who you are commissioning to take away your waste.”