Steaming waste and flies lead to £370k fine for Ilkeston firm

The firm was fined £270,000 for the breaches at two sites in Ilkeston – Griffon Road and Hallam Fields – and of illegally operating at the old Stanton Ironworks near the town.

In addition, the firm was ordered to pay costs of £100,000.

After the case, an Environment Agency (EA) spokesman said: “Between March, 2012, and June, 2013, the company failed to operate its permitted sites at Griffon Road and Hallam Fields properly in that they failed to adequately control the amount of waste on site.

“The waste brought on to the Griffon Road site was stored for longer than permitted and was seen to be engulfing the outside storage bays.

“The odorous nature of the waste manifested and resulted in significant fly infestation.

“The company had been under investigation from the EA following complaints from the public, but despite a number of opportunities to improve its operations, failed to bring the sites back into compliance.

“In addition, the company operated an illegal waste operation on nearby land at the old Stanton Ironworks from February to July, 2013.

“Waste was stored in significant quantities on land without any appropriate permits or in accordance with exemptions.

“Some of the piles on site appeared to be steaming.”

The spokesman added: “We grant, monitor and enforce waste permits so that we can ensure that waste operations do not pollute the environment and pose a risk to human health.

“Donald Ward Ltd failed to comply with their environmental permit despite multiple warning letters and enforcement notices issued by the EA.

“This prosecution demonstrates that we take cases such as this very seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute if necessary, to protect the environment and communities.”