Stirling landowner fined for waste offences

A Stirling landowner, George Adam, was fined £6,000 and served with a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act for £20,388 at Stirling Sheriff Court on 26 September 2018. Mr Adam pled guilty to illegally managing and keeping asbestos, plastics and other wastes at the former Cowie Road Landfill, Bannockburn, without the necessary authorisations from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

SEPA officers attended the former landfill site, operated by Mr Adam, on several occasions between July and December 2015 to assess compliance with the site’s registered exemption. At these visits SEPA officers noted that waste, which did not comply with the exemption, was present on site and also outwith the exemption boundary.

Sampling of the waste confirmed that materials including soil, stones, plastic, metals, wood and waste trommel fines, containing asbestos, were present on site. Leachate was also observed at the site which had the potential to seep into the ground and enter the groundwater, and also to eventually result in odours off-site.

Whilst SEPA served an enforcement notice under the Environmental Protection Act on Mr Adam on 7 December 2015, requiring the removal of waste from the site, further site visits by SEPA officers showed that the waste had not been removed.

Source: SEPA, 27 September 2018