Sheffield waste company given 6-month restriction order according to Environment Agency statement

M White Skips Ltd has been issued with a six-month restriction order relating to the site, on Worthing Road, Sheffield, where the Environment Agency said the conditions posed a risk of ‘serious pollution to the environment and serious harm to human health’.

The Environment Agency, which brought the case against the company, said it was the first time such a restriction order had been issued in Yorkshire. It said the order was issued at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, May 23, for a period of six months until November 22, for the site at 63-65 Worthing Road, Sheffield.

The district judge also ordered costs of £17,199.48, half against the company M White Skips Ltd and half against James White, aged 47, to be paid to the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency said it had first blocked access to the site in Sheffield in February to prevent it from accepting and managing more waste. The court order prohibits anyone from entering or depositing waste on the site, it explained, to ‘reduce the risk and impact on the local community and the environment’.

The Environment Agency said the court had heard from one of the organisation’s environmental crime officers and an officer from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue that ‘the condition of the site was such that it posed a risk of serious pollution to the environment and serious harm to human health, and a restriction order was necessary’.

The Environment Agency added that it is working alongside South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue in the ongoing criminal investigation into activities at the site.

Jacqui Tootill, South Yorkshire area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The extension of this restriction order prevents any further waste from being dumped or treated at the site.”

She added: “We continue to inspect the site regularly and work with partners to ensure this order is complied with and we continue to work towards clearing the site. We will take further enforcement action if necessary and continue to investigate the alleged offending linked to the activities at this site.”

M White Skips Ltd said in a statement: “This decision is claimed to be unlawful for many reasons and is under appeal, both onwards to the superior courts, and in the Administrative Court where an application for Judicial Review was filed at the start of April for serious errors of law and procedure. The company has been under attack from the EA for 10 years now and this is just a part of that dispute.”