Huge disruption and damage was caused when a large blaze broke out at a waste site after the owner repeatedly ignored warnings that it posed a fire risk.
Waste kept illegally at Clifford Shee's site in Gateshead went up in flames five months after the facility had been closed down by the Environment Agency.
The blaze, in February last year at Shee Recycling, on Durham Road, Birtley, saw a major incident declared as the East Coast rail line closed, schools shut down, residents were told to stay indoors and local businesses were disrupted to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds as Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service deployed more than 250 officers and 10 appliances to tackle it.
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Shee, 58, from Bright Street, in Roker, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to a series of waste and fly-tipping offences and also accepting responsibility for large amounts of fly-tipped waste in Fencehouses, Sunderland, in a linked investigation carried out in partnership with Sunderland City Council.
Prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, Ben Thomas told Newcastle Crown Court that Shee Recycling was operating as an ‘exempt facility’ for low-level waste activities which did not require an environmental permit, meaning a small amount of waste that was not mixed could be temporarily stored on site.
During several visits by the Environment Agency and the fire service between January and May 2021, Shee was told his site created a significant fire risk. Agency officers gave him a list of actions to bring his site back into compliance, including removing all unauthorised waste, separating the different types of waste, reducing the size of the waste piles and creating fire breaks between them.
In May 2021, after failing to comply, Shee was told that his waste exemptions had been deregistered but he quickly registered new exemptions, actions which the court agreed showed the deliberate nature of his offending.
During follow-up visits, officers saw evidence the site was still operating, and in September 2021 the Environment Agency secured a restriction order at court which closed down Shee Recycling. Shee was told he would only be allowed access to clear the waste, which he never did. The fire broke out in February 2022.
The court also heard that on 11 February 2021, 46 black bags of waste were dumped at Britannia Terrace in Fencehouses, and the entrance to a pedestrian tunnel at nearby Lambton Lane was almost completely blocked by fly-tipped bags of waste. Both were traced back to Shee Recycling, which had been subcontracted by reputable waste disposable contractors. Between 2018 and 2021 Shee received more than £150,000 for these disposal services.
Andrew Turner, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “Our officers worked tirelessly with our partners at the fire service to close Shee’s site after he consistently ignored official instructions to take action, disregarded our repeated warnings that a fire would break out and continued to have a blatant disregard for the law.
“The safety of the public and protection of the environment is our priority and the fire had a major impact on the community, infrastructure and air and water quality.
"Criminal behaviour like this undermines legitimate businesses that work hard to make a living within the regulations and hopefully this sentence will send out a message to others who flout the law they can expect action to be taken against them.”
The court heard that Shee had twice previously been convicted and fined, in 2016 and 2019, for environmental offences committed at his Birtley site. Some hazardous waste which he claimed he would clear, was still on the site and ignited during the fire.
Judge Edward Legard sentenced Shee to 30 weeks suspended for 18 months with 200 hours unpaid work. He was also fined £5,000 and must pay £11,958 costs The judge said: "By storing mixed waste in the manner described you were reckless to the blatant and environmental risks that would follow.
"The fire and widespread inconvenience and damage it caused must be directly attributed to your actions, even if you were not responsible for setting the fire.
"The major impact of this fire can only be fairly attributed to you as a result of your persistent failure to comply with the requirements of your exemption. But for the illegal storage of waste, any fire would have had negligible consequences.
"The fire resulted in a major impact on commuters, schools and businesses and a major cost. It's further aggravated by your previous convictions and your failure to comply with the regulator."
The judge Shee's legal team submitted that the fire was started by trespassers and said the Environment Agency had been "deaf to your requests to return to the side to collect waste".
He added: "There is a degree of remorse on your part. The enforcement action and the fire have had a catastrophic impact on your business."
Simon Goldberg KC, for Shee, said that he had tried to comply with the Environment Agency’s requirements, hiring expensive equipment for his business and removing as much waste as he could.
Paul Russell, Area Manager at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS), said: “We had worked together with the Environment Agency to support the enforcement action against this premises prior to the fire at the site. We always seek to work together with businesses but will take and support action when we believe public safety is at risk.
“Numerous fire safety risks were identified at that time and this incident could have been avoided if quicker action had been taken by the site owner to make the premises safe.
“The incident was declared a major incident by TWFRS and the response by our firefighters during the fire itself was incredible. They worked tirelessly to protect their communities and helped contain the fire so it didn’t spread to nearby properties or the rail line.
“But fires of this magnitude do inflict damage on the environment and so we welcome this conviction, and remain committed to continuing to work with our partners at the Environment Agency to keep our communities safe.”
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