£3227 fine for breaching clean regulations in York

Supporting work to enforce air quality in York, City of York Council has prosecuted a contractor for burning pollutants and waste offences.

At York Magistrates’ Court on 5 November, Richard Heppell, aged 28 of Knapton Close, Strensall, pleaded guilty to burning materials which caused the emission of dark smoke, for carrying waste without a licence, failing in his duty of care to dispose of waste lawfully. He was ordered to pay a total £3,227.58.

In April 2019, a report was made to the council of commercial waste being burned at a building site at Askham Bryan and dark smoke being emitted. Officers visited the site that day and found that rather than pay for this commercial waste – which included cables and wires – to be removed legally, he burned it, creating polluting, dark smoke.

Contractor Richard Heppell from AOS (Art of Smart) said he was carrying out electrical work at the new property being built. He confirmed under caution that some of this waste, which included coated cables and quantities of polythene and polystyrene packaging, would have been from his company. Mr Heppell was warned that burning any commercial waste which causes dark smoke is an offence.

Within 30 minutes of this visit, another complaint was received alleging that further dark smoke had been seen when the bonfire was lit again. Officers visited the site the following day and confirmed that the waste had been burned, found documentation addressed to Mr Heppell’s business, and found waste from previous jobs he had undertaken.

Mr Heppell failed to produce details of his waste carriers licence and how he disposes of his waste. He said he was unaware that he had to keep details of his waste disposal and didn’t realise he needed to have a licence. He obtained a waste carrier’s licence on 7 May. When interviewed under caution he admitted burning the waste, saying that he had “panicked”, had been “very stupid” and immediately regretted doing so.

He was prosecuted for four offences relating to creating polluting, noxious smoke. He pleaded guilty to all offences by post and the court fined him £500, he was ordered to pay £2,677.58 costs and a court surcharge of £50.

For more information on how to dispose of commercial waste legally and safely, please visit: https://www.york.gov.uk/info/20090/commercial_waste/1569/commercial_waste_disposal_responsibilitie

York business ordered to pay nearly £20,000 for fly-tipping

An investigation by City of York Council has uncovered and prosecuted a serious case of fly-tipping in the city, as part of Operation Eyeball a multi-agency campaign to tackle illegal waste disposal.

Haizhou Zhou (aged 46 of Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick, York) appeared yesterday [7 May 2019] at York Magistrates, where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and a related waste disposal offence.

Mr Zhou and two unknown male accomplices were caught on CCTV arriving at Ocean Corals and Reptiles, Clifton Moor, York, on 26 May 2018.

The three men discarded waste from a hire van into a skip next to the business. The waste included black waste bags, a wooden pallet, strips of plastic, cardboard, and wooden boards.

City of York Council officers noted that some of the waste recovered from the site belonged to Pegasus Textiles, registered as Pegasus World Ltd, Outgang Lane, York, for which Mr Zhou is the company director.

The incident cost the owners of Ocean Corals and Reptiles £228 for an additional skip to get rid of the extra waste.

York Magistrates fined Pegasus Textiles Ltd £13,200 yesterday [7 May 2019], he was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £1012.64 as well as repayment of the waste costs.

Mr Zhou was fined £3938, ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £500, as well as £228 compensation to Ocean Corals and Reptiles.

The council is working with North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Crime team and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to lead on the development of the Operation Eyeball (cross-county work to reduce fly-tipping).

Together, this campaign aims to support communities to find alternative ways to recycle and reuse their waste, rather than resulting to fly-tipping.

To check if a carrier is licenced, visit: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers or call the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.

Residents can take waste to our household waste recycling centres – see www.york.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling – or can arrange for the council to collect it via www.york.gov.uk/BulkyWaste. Up to ten items can be taken so why not join together with neighbours?