A York-based farming business has offered to pay £23,640 to the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust after spreading waste sludge on land illegally, the Environment Agency has said.
J E Hartley Limited, of Roth Hill Lane, Thorganby, which produces frozen vegetables for UK retailers and manufacturers, submitted an Enforcement Undertaking to the Environment Agency.
An Enforcement Undertaking is a voluntary offer made by companies or individuals to make amends for their offending. J E Hartley Limited’s offences consisted of spreading waste sludge on its land between March 2016 and February 2022 without permission.
The company had held a permit for spreading its own waste on its land since March 2016 and operates an anaerobic digestate plant on-site which produces the waste sludge that the company spreads on its land.
Under the conditions of the permit, the company must make an application each time it wishes to spread waste, to say where it intends to spread waste, what type of waste, how much and when.
The Environment Agency considers each application and decides if there is an agricultural benefit to the spreading to discern whether or not it can go ahead.
Records showed that the company’s spreading took place every year from 2013 to 2021 in varying quantities from 2,664t to 10,530t.
However, only four applications for spreading were made during this period and all were refused, needing additional information. The company avoided paying applications fees which ranged from £760 to £1,718 each time it spread waste on its land.
Although no environmental harm has been identified from the spreading carried out by the company, area environment manager for the North Yorkshire Environment Agency, Claire Barrow, said companies need to be aware of their environmental obligations.
“In this case JE Hartley Limited recognised that they had failed to comply with their environmental permit and we deemed it appropriate to accept an Enforcement Undertaking offer, which ensured that all avoided application costs were donated to a project that will enhance, restore and protect England’s natural environment,” she said.
“In some circumstances, Enforcement Undertakings can achieve a good resolution of our enforcement action, allowing the offender to put things right and help to improve our environment.
“This payment of £23,640 will do just that by supporting the work of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.”
Barrow said the offer from J E Hartley Limited outlined that it will revise its land spreading procedures and not spread without permissions for spreading in place and cover the Environment Agency’s costs.
