Nottingham waste firm fined for dust and odour breaches

A Nottingham waste transfer company and its director have been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £71,000, following breaches of the conditions of an environmental permit during a 19-month period.

Ryan Colson, the director of Colson Transport Limited, took over the Bulwell Lane site in Old Basford from its previous owners in 2013. The volume of waste passing through the site then significantly increased, with no consideration given to updating its working plan. As a result, dust escaped from the site and odour problems developed; both of these issues had a significant impact on local residents, businesses and a nearby primary school.

Mr Colson and Colson Transport had a history of non-compliance, and had already received a prior warning from the Environment Agency. However, the site was never consistently operated in a way that complied with an environmental permit.

In sentencing, District Judge Spruce noted the length of time the breaches spanned and the history of non-compliance, and although he found that local residents had suffered from the problems caused by the site, there were no findings that this created a risk to human health.

In mitigation, he argued that there had been no financial gain as a result of the permit breaches, and that there was “clear evidence of significant steps taken to remedy the problems and improving infrastructure in order to avoid recurrence”.

Mr Colson and Colson Transport Limited accepted responsibility and cooperated with the investigation, investing approximately £350,000 into the site.

Image credit: Alamy