GovWire

Martin Robert Hindmarsh, 47, of High Street, Stokesley, and his company B8 Waste Management Limited, were fined and ordered to pay costs totalling almost 26,000 for running the illegal waste site in Middlesbrough.

Hindmarsh was also banned from being a company director for two years and ordered to clear the site by the end of the year.

Hindmarsh appeared at Teesside Magistrates Court on Tuesday 4 July where he pleaded guilty to operating a waste site without a permit at Tame Road in Middlesbrough, failing to produce waste transfer notes, and failing to comply with a notice to clear the site of waste. The company pleaded guilty to operating a waste site without a permit.

The court heard that in May 2021 Hindmarsh submitted a request for advice to the Environment Agency, which indicated he wanted to operate a waste transfer station at the Middlesbrough site. The Agency replied with advice and was clear that activities must not start without an environmental permit in place.

In October the same year, the Environment Agency started to receive reports of vermin and large quantities of waste on the site. Officers attended and although the site was locked they could see around 100 tonnes of mixed commercial and domestic waste, including fridges, freezers and PVC window frames.

There was no environmental permit for the site, meaning it was an illegal operation.

The officers spoke to Hindmarsh and told him to clear the site, giving him numerous opportunities over the next 6 months to comply, and to also produce waste transfer notes from his activities.

This culminated in an official notice in May 2022 ordering him to clear the site by 24 July. A visit on the 1 August that year saw this had also not been complied with. On 6 December the Environment Agency issued a second notice ordering that all waste transfer notes be produced.

To date both notices issued by the Environment Agency relating to the clearance of the site and production of waste transfer notes has not been complied with.

Hindmarsh deliberately flouted the law

Gary Wallace, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

Environmental permits are in place to protect the public and environment and we told Hindmarsh no waste operation could start without one. No permit was ever applied for, with Hindmarsh and the company he ran deliberately flouting the law.

He ignored much of the communication from our officers telling him to cease activity and clear the site, and despite making numerous commitments, each time officers attended nothing had changed.

Illegal activity such as this undermines legitimate businesses that work hard to operate within the regulations, as well as putting the environment at risk and impacting on the local community.

I hope this sentence sends out the message to others that trying to bypass environmental laws for financial gain can ultimately end up being significantly more costly.

Hindmarsh was fined 9,231 and ordered to pay 2,300 costs while his company was fined 9,000 and ordered to pay costs of 5,000. Both were ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 190 each.

An order was made against Hindmarsh for him to clear the site by 4pm on 31 December, and he was disqualified from being a company director for two years.