EA prosecutes illegal waste site owner

The Environment Agency (EA) has successfully prosecuted a man for running an illegal waste site in Yorkshire.

Mark Butterworth was found guilty of running the unlicensed waste transfer station in Cornholme, West Yorkshire, between February 2007 and January 2008.

The EA prosecuted Butterworth after receiving complaints about the site, but numerous breaches of environmental legislation continued to take place at the site which was in use despite having no licence. He was originally prosecuted at Bradford Crown Court last May, when he received an eight-month suspended prison sentence.

The EA brought the next stage of the case under the Proceeds of Crime Act following an investigation into the profit which had been made from the illegal station. Butterworth was back in court at the end of last week and ordered to pay back £2,000. Failure to do so will result in a prison term.

Financial investigator at the Environment Agency, Neil Campbell, said, “Not only do we use environmental law to prosecute those who abuse the environment but we also use the Proceeds of Crime legislation to ensure that criminals are deprived of the benefits of their illegal activity.