Keeping asbestos on land results in £6k fine

A Stirling landowner who illegally kept controlled waste, including asbestos, on his land has been dealt with in court.

George Adam was fined £6,000 and served with a confiscation order, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, for £20,388 at Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Mr Adam pleaded guilty to illegally managing and keeping asbestos, plastics and other wastes, at the former Cowie Road Landfill, Bannockburn, without the necessary authorisations from SEPA.

SEPA officers attended the former landfill site, operated by Mr Adam, at Cowie Road on several occasions between 24 July 2015 and 7 December 2015 to assess compliance with the site’s registered exemption. At these visits SEPA officers noted that waste, which did not comply with the exemption, was present on site and also outwith the exemption boundary.

Sampling of the waste confirmed that materials including soil, stones, plastic, metals, wood and waste trommel fines, containing asbestos, were present on site. Leachate was also observed at the site which had the potential to seep into the ground and enter the groundwater, and also to eventually result in odours off-site.

Whilst SEPA served an enforcement notice under the Environmental Protection Act on Mr Adam on December 7, 2015, requiring the removal of waste from the site, further site visits by SEPA officers showed that the waste had not been removed. The enforcement notice had not been complied with.

SEPA chief executive Terry A’Hearn said:“Every day SEPA works to protect and enhance Scotland’s environment, and we are clear that environmental compliance is non-negotiable.

“Waste activities are subject to strict regulations to ensure that the environment is protected. George Adam has shown a blatant disregard for these regulations and we are pleased that he has been held to account for this.

“We have a good track record of compliance in Scotland. One reason for this success is that, where these standards are not met, we are determined to take tough action. This is at the heart of our regulatory strategy, One Planet Prosperity. SEPA will always take enforcement action in line with our enforcement policy against those who persist with such unlawful business practices.”

Mr Adam pled guilty to a charge that, on repeated occasions between July 24 2015 and January 20 2016, at the former Cowie Road Landfill, Cowie Road, Bannockburn he managed and kept controlled waste, namely soil and stones and waste trommel fines containing asbestos, paper, plastic, glass, wood, polystyrene, plasterboard, tiles , metals, insulation material, gravel, concrete, wire, bricks and ceramics in or on said land otherwise than in accordance with a waste management licence in that he kept the said waste on the land without the authority of a waste management licence and out-with the terms of any registered waste management exemption, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act 1990.