A LOCHGELLY farmer who built up an illegal landfill site containing thousands of tonnes of unlicensed waste has been handed a £15,000 Confiscation Order.

Between 2006 and 2012, Ernie McPherson created an unauthorised landfill site holding an estimated 85,500 tonnes of unlicensed waste material at the Wee Mary Bing, Wester Cartmore Farm, and ‘operated in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health’.

SEPA had been monitoring the site and had engaged with him on the storage of demolition waste kept there and also its security.

In April 2011 Mr McPherson was formally required by SEPA to remove the waste by 15th September of that year. It was not removed.

On 20th September 2013, Mr McPherson pled guilty to an environmental offence (in contravention of Section 33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) and on 14th May 2014 was sentenced to a six month Restriction of Liberty Order. The Confiscation Order was made on Thursday at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

Lindsey Miller, Procurator Fiscal for Organised Crime & Counter Terrorism, said, “The illegal and unauthorised waste management activities of Mr McPherson had the potential to cause significant environmental harm and by not adhering to the lawful requirements, could reduce the available business and undermine the viability of responsible operators.

“This investigation and prosecution was a result of excellent partnership working between SEPA, Police Scotland and specialist prosecutors from both the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit and the Proceeds of Crime Unit.

“The Order imposed should send a clear message to those who do not comply with our environmental laws. They will not profit from failing in their duty to Scotland’s heritage.

“All funds recovered will be added to those already gathered from Proceeds of Crime to be re-invested in the community by Scottish Ministers, through the CashBack for Communities programme.” Mr McPherson pointed out that the material on the site was historical mining blaes and the amount of waste removed from it was only four tonnes under Sepa supervision and not 85,000 tonnes. There was no contamination or health issues posed by it.

The legal keeping and treatment of waste requires the authority of a waste management licence, as regulated by SEPA under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The objective of the waste management licensing system is to ensure that waste management facilities do not cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health or become seriously detrimental to the amenities of the locality.

A Confiscation Order is an order made by the Court following criminal conviction, to pay a fixed sum of money from the proceeds of crime. An application for confiscation is one of the tools at the disposal of the Crown under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995.

Neil Morrison, SEPA’s reporting officer, said, “SEPA officers tried to work with Mr McPherson over the years to bring the site into compliance with waste management legislation, however, unfortunately, compliance was never achieved and the site continued to store waste. We want to work with individuals and companies to ensure that they understand their environmental responsibilities and how to meet them. However, when this work does not result in changes and compliance with waste legislation, we will use all options available to us, including referring the case to the Procurator Fiscal.”