A Leicestershire farmer has been successfully prosecuted for polluting his fields and neighbouring land and for failing to comply with environmental permits.
- Court imposes remediation order to deal with the contaminated land
- Advice and warnings from Environment Agency officers ignored
- Magistrates court told farmer failed to comply with environmental permits
At Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday 12 December 2024, William David Clarke, 54, of The Dales, Countesthorpe, was found guilty on 5 charges. These were related to offences committed at Soars Lodge Farm, Foston Road, near Countesthorpe.
He received a 9 week period of imprisonment for each, suspended for a year. In addition, the court imposed a remediation order to deal with the land contamination which had arisen. This was a result of processing green waste, and the spreading of contaminated compost.
The offences
The court heard that the defendant pleaded guilty at a previous hearing on 3 July 2024 to the offences which occurred between 26 April 2018 and 15 May 2020.
Officers from the Environment Agency were made aware of issues at the farm after nearby residents had complained regarding large quantities of litter.
This resulted in an audit in April 2018 of the composting and land spreading operations, both of which were regulated by environmental permits.
The permits allowed the composting of green waste and untreated wood and the spreading of the resulting compost, providing it met quality standards.
The site received green waste from kerbside collections from local councils and waste from household recycling centres. The site also accepted green waste from tree surgeons and gardening businesses.
However, the compost produced did not meet the specification to be spread on the farm's fields as a fertiliser substitute. This was because it was contaminated and would cause pollution of the land.
The material was being inadequately composted and was heavily contaminated with plastics, metal, textiles, rubber and treated wood.
The court also heard that separated loose plastics were stored in such a way that they were allowed to escape across the surrounding countryside.
Contaminated compost had been spread onto and ploughed into the farmland. It was also stockpiled illegally in windrows outside the permitted site.
The defendant told the officers that he used an automated system to record deliveries of waste, because the waste reception area was only attended during less busy times.
The waste from the kerbside collections and from household waste recycling centres was contaminated with black bin bag waste, flower pots and other materials.
Clarke was also accepting unauthorised waste types, namely treated wood, including wood coated in plastic, and wood treated with paint and preservatives.
Enforcement notice served
An enforcement notice was served on 12 April 2019 requiring the defendant to stop accepting treated wood waste and to remove any treated wood already on site. Clarke failed to comply with that notice.
Clarke later applied for permission to spread the compost onto his fields. Although he had declared the stockpiles as free of any contamination, forensic analysis by the Environment Agency found that all 44 of the samples taken failed.
The court was told that litter pollution from the composting was so bad, that field boundaries, hedgerows and ditches looked like motorway verges. Environment Agency officers witnessed lambs chewing fragments of waste textiles on one of the illegal compost stockpiles.
District Judge Nick Watson heard that the Environment Agency was so concerned about the contamination of the fields and surrounding environment that it was applying to the court for a Remediation Order against the defendant.
Following sentencing the judge granted the Order, specifying that the clean up must be completed by noon on 12 December 2027.
The farm is the subject of a planning application to Blaby District Council for the development of a solar farm. The judge ordered that the Remediation Order must be completed before that development can take place.
In mitigation, Clarke denied running the site and blamed his late father, David Clarke, who owned Soars Lodge Farm and was joint holder of both environmental permits with him. David Clarke died during the period of the investigation.
However, the judge disagreed and found that William Clarke was in day-to-day control of the composting operations.
Iain Regan, Environment Agency Senior Environmental Crime Officer, said:
We encourage the proper treatment and recycling of green waste where this has environmental benefits, such as by adding nutrients and improving soil structure.
But where wastes which aren't suitable are treated and spread, as in this case, this can cause pollution and damage to wildlife.
We welcome these sentences which should act as a deterrent to others considering flouting the law.
We also welcome the Remediation Order to try to put right the damage which William Clarke has caused to his own land and that adjoining his farm.
The defendant ignored our concerns and refused to act on the extensive advice we gave him to improve his operation, and that has resulted in these convictions.
If anyone has concerns about how waste is being managed they should call our 24/7 hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Employees or former employees of a company have legal protections when reporting wrongdoing by their employer.
Whistleblowers can report serious environmental concerns about a company to the Environment Agency online:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/whistleblowing-report-serious-wrongdoing-to-the-environment-agency
The Charges:
- Failing to Comply with an Environmental Permit; contrary to Regulation 38(2) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
Prior to and between the 26th April 2018 and 15th May 2020, you failed to comply with or contravened the conditions of an environmental permit to operate a standard composting facility, granted on 3rd February 2010 (reference EAWML 101214, EPR/EP3990SX), contrary to Regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016), in that:
Sentence: 9 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 1 year
- Treating, etc., controlled waster in a manner likely to cause pollution; contrary to Section 33(1)(c) Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Prior to and between the 26th April 2018 and 15th May 2020 you treated, kept or disposed of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment, contrary to Section 33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that you, or others acting on your behalf, or under your control, dealt with controlled waste such that plastic materials were:
- Spread onto and ploughed into fields at Soars Lodge Farm; and / or,
- Dispersed from the permitted composting facility to surrounding fields, ditches, waterways and hedgerows.
Sentence: 9 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 1 year.
- Failing to Comply with an Environmental Permit; contrary to Regulation 38(2) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
Prior to and between the 26th April 2018 and 15th May 2020, you failed to comply with or contravened the conditions of an environmental permit to operate waste mobile plant for the purpose of landspreading, granted on 10th December 2014 (reference EAWML 105593, EPR/CD3404FP), contrary to Regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, in that:
Sentence: 9 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 1 year
- Unlawful deposit of controlled waste; contrary to Section 33(1)(a) Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Between 19th September 2018 and 18th March 2019, you deposited or knowingly caused or permitted the deposit of controlled waste on land, otherwise than authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that you, or others acting on your behalf or under your control, deposited controlled waste on land known as the Meadow at Soars Lodge Farm.
Sentence: 9 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 1 year.
- Failure to comply with an enforcement notice; contrary to Regulation 38(3) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
Between 12th April 2019 and 30th April 2019, you failed as required to comply with an enforcement notice dated 12th April 2019, and served under Regulation 36 Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, contrary to Regulation 38(3) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 in that you failed to ensure that you / the regulated composting facility at Soars Lodge Farm.
Sentence: 9 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 1 year.
Remediation Order
The Remediation Order was issued by the court against William David Clarke under Regulation 44 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
The order sets out steps which must be followed by William Clarke in order to remedy matters following his conviction.
Failure to comply with the order may be treated as a contempt of court.
