Directors in dock over 2,000-ton Dudley rubbish pile 'which kept growing'
A 2,000-ton mountain of rubbish grew bigger for more than a year despite repeated official warnings, a jury heard.
The eyesore at Rowanoak Waste Services at Shaw Lane, Dudley, was the subject of regular complaints from neighbours about bad smells, noise and dust, it was said.
Environmental chiefs slapped enforcement notices on the firm but its directors failed to comply – even touting for more business after they had been banned from taking in any more waste, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Deadlines were set for the company to fall into line but bosses either neglected the warnings or wilfully chose to ignore them.
20 offences
The company and three directors are on trial for a total of 20 offences to do with failing to comply with the conditions of an environmental permit.
Mr Richard Bradley, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, said Rowanoak was formed in 2013 and the land at Shaw Road bought for £125,000.
But when a permit to operate the site as a waste transfer station was made, the Environment Agency voiced concern over the suitability of brothers Colin and Alan Smithyman to be involved.
The company gave assurances that neither of the pair would be and so a permit was granted in 2014.
However one of the brothers was later spotted at the yard during an inspection visit, the jury heard.
Stench of rotting waste
Problems with the management of the site soon began to emerge, with waste which should have been stored inside regularly piled up on open land, where the stink of rotting waste upset the neighbours.
Rubbish was so tightly packed inside the building that inspectors could not check the drainage system, it was claimed.
The dust thrown up by a shredding machine was another source of pollution.
The firm promised not to take in any more waste until it had resolved the issues, and a de-odouriser spray was bought to counteract the bad smells.
But on his next visit, inspector Edward Brown saw that while 900 tons of rubbish had been removed, fresh waste had been brought on to the site.
The following month he found four big piles of waste outside the building, each pile weighing around 300 tons.
“It was clear there was no regard to the permit conditions and items of waste were also being blown about the site,” said Mr Bradley.
Rowanoak Waste Services, and three men – Kevin Allan, 58, from Roundway Down, Perton; Edward Venables, formerly Boulton, of Tamworth, both directors of Rowanoak, and Randle Hawkins, from Quarry Brow, Upper Gornal, a director of Mak Waste, which also operated at the site, all deny failing to comply with the conditions of an environmental permit.
Brian McIntosh, another director of Mak Waste, from Adams Hill, Bartley Green, Birmingham, has already pleaded guilty to not following the requirements of an environmental permit.
The trial continues.
