A discarded microwave, a mattress sodden by the rain and even a pile of used syringes. The reality of illegally dumped waste sits before me in a colossal mound next to the side of a motorway. For the team I'm with, this is a jigsaw waiting to be pieced together and solved as they try to identify the criminal culprits.
It does not take long for Anthony Horan and Ashley Hanley from North East Lincolnshire Council to find answers within the mountain of waste on the side of the Brocklesby Interchange near Grimsby. "I'm gobsmacked at the amount of evidence in this one," Anthony Horan, who works as a senior environmental health practitioner for the authority. "I'm disgusted at the needles.
I've never found this amount ever." A number of times during the interview we pause after spotting a syringe close to our feet. Some are hidden under items, others are in plain sight. The team tells me this is exactly why they wear protective equipment.
Meanwhile, a picture starts to emerge as letters with different names and addresses - all miles outside the area - are fished out and photographed. Horan tells me if evidence which identifies a person is found, they will be questioned. If found liable, they could be fined if they have not properly undergone a "domestic duty of care".
"A lot of people think enviro-crime or fly-tipping is a victimless crime," Horan says. "It's not, there's many victims." Horan says people often employ a "man with a van" to dispose of their waste, but frequently the person hired just dumps it. If the waste is found dumped on private land, the owner will have to pay for its removal.
Councils only pay if it is on public land. Wearing thick gloves, environmental enforcement officer Hanley continues to dig through the dump. I ask him about rogue waste removers and his advice for people wanting to get rid of waste.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
