The Environment Agency successfully prosecuted 2 known criminals and their company who were sentenced on Friday 9 June 2017 for illegal waste tipping and storage at Baldwins Farm and Bush Farm in Essex.

The Environment Agency investigated PCS Recycling and the owners, Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr, between 1 March 2012 and 8 May 2013. The men were arrested on site by police officers. They were found guilty of depositing waste, including potentially hazardous materials, in 2012 and 2013.

During the investigation, Environment Agency Officers discovered a large area, the size of 2 football pitches, where waste had been tipped and spread, accumulating to over 15 metres high in places. This area, known as Baldwins Farm, was being used as an illegal waste site, and at least 7,000 tonnes of waste was deposited there between 1 March and 31 August 2012. Both defendants pleaded guilty to operating a regulated facility without a permit at Baldwins Farm.

Patrick Corbally Snr and Patrick Corbally Jnr also pleaded guilty to being responsible for another organised illegal tip at a nearby site, known as Bush Farm (Priory Angling Club). The defendants were responsible for depositing in excess of 9,000 tonnes of waste at this second site. The estimated cost to the landowners (Cemex UK) of clearing and remediating the site of waste was up to £3 million pounds.

Patrick James Corbally Snr and Patrick Lee Corbally Jnr were each given 10-month prison sentences, which were suspended for 2 years, and along with the PCS Recycling, ordered to pay fines of £120,000 and £55,000 compensation to the land owner Cemex.

The sentence was imposed on the basis that the defendants had acted deliberately. There had been major costs of site remediation and significant interference with lawful waste operators, whose legitimate businesses had been undermined.

This fine is one of the highest ever to be imposed on individual defendants following an Environment Agency prosecution.

Sarah Mills, the Enforcement Team Leader at the Environment Agency, said:

Due to the complexity of the case, it took a lot of resources to get the right outcome from this investigation. Waste crime is a serious issue diverting as much as £1 billion per annum from legitimate business and treasury. Since April 2011 the Environment Agency has invested £65.2 million in tackling it.

Illegal and unscrupulous waste criminals are working with total disregard for the environment, landowners, legal waste operators and any member of the public who use the land. We are determined to stop them by working with our partners in a collaborative effort. We hope this sentence serves as a message to those involved that we won’t stop the fight against this blight, and that it acts as a deterrent against those who undermine legitimate businesses within the industry.

We urge any landowners, farmers, ramblers or dog walkers who find these sites to call us immediately on our 24-hour free incident hotline number 0800 80 70 60 or make an anonymous report to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

For all media enquiries, please call: 0800 141 2743

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit letter and decision document for:

• Operator name: Mr William Elsworthy
• Installation name: Hellinghayes Poultry Farm
• Permit number: EPR/FP3434DK/A001

Waste collection authorities or their contracted providers sometimes cannot carry out normal household waste collections due to bad weather, for example. They may need to set up temporary waste collection centres.

This regulatory position statement (RPS) sets out the conditions waste collection authorities must follow to operate a temporary collection site without an environmental permit.

The Environment Agency has granted an environmental permit to allow Ineos Upstream Ltd to drill an exploratory borehole at a site in Derbyshire.

The ‘Standard Rules’ permit allows the company to carry out drilling, waste management, and low-risk testing at its Bramleymoor Lane drilling site, near the village of Marsh Lane. It does not allow fracking.

Standard Rules permits include fixed rules and conditions that cover common, low-risk industrial activities. They are issued to companies only after they demonstrate that they understand and can manage the risks to people and the environment.

If the firm wishes to carry out additional activities on the site in the future, it must submit a bespoke permit application that is tailored to those activities.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

Our regulatory controls for onshore oil and gas are in place to protect people and the environment. Standard Rules permits are common across industry and maintain high levels of environmental protection. They do not allow companies to carry out fracking – this activity requires a bespoke permit application which would be subject to a site-specific environmental risk assessment and extensive public consultation.

As with all decisions on whether to issue environmental permits, we will assess a company’s proposals to ensure they meet strict requirements. If an activity poses an unacceptable risk to the environment, the activity will not be permitted.

The Environment Agency is finalising plans to install a fish pass on the River Derwent at Howsham to help migrating fish, eel and lamprey access spawning grounds upstream.

The work is part of a joint programme with Natural England to improve a number of weirs and other structures that the Environment Agency owns in the lower Derwent.

The project will involve the installation of an enhanced single Larinier fish pass near the existing hydropower turbines, along with eel and lamprey tiles at two locations on the weir.
Improved passage will help fish populations by allowing them to move freely between the river and coastal waters to access breeding, nursery or feeding grounds. It will also help species to naturally re-colonise the river upstream after floods, droughts or pollution.

The design is being developed following a public consultation with the local community, environmental organisations, and people who use the river regularly, including anglers and canoeists. It aims to provide a significant improvement for fish while at the same time allowing continued use of a chute across the weir for canoe and kayak training and competitions.

Ineke Jackson, project manager at the Environment Agency, said:

The upstream reaches of the River Derwent and the Rye have very low numbers of lamprey, eels and salmon, so this is a really important project for the environment.

We have opted for a single fish pass with a special design and additional flow to make it particularly attractive to fish, while protecting canoeing and kayaking. This will be a substantial improvement for fish, and requires only a small reduction in flow through the canoe chute. We will put lamprey and eel tiles on the weir to help these species make their way across.

We are grateful to everyone who contributed during the consultation because this helped us to find a solution which balances all interests.

Construction on the scheme is expected to begin in spring or summer next year.

More information on the public consultation can be found at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/howsham-weir-fish-passage-consultation.