The Environment Agency was originally alerted that there was a problem in November 2014 when individuals found cooking oil in their drains, in a pond, and in the Caundle Brook, downstream of the pond, as well as various other complaints received regarding oils on the highway.
The Environment Agency performed dye tracing, which proved that the pollution originated from a ditch bordering Keepers Paddock. The Agency, accompanied by police and armed with a magistrates warrant, paid a visit to the site and found that Allen was operating an illegal waste transfer station.
The oil was being kept at the site in an ‘ad hoc and haphazard fashion’ which resulted in the neighbouring properties being polluted. When the neighbours complained to Stuart Allen, he threatened them with violence.
An estimated 60,000 litres of mixed oils and food products, some of which were contaminated with plastics, wood and human wastes, were being stored at Keepers Paddock. The oil was stockpiled on pallets and on bare unmade ground, with spillages simply soaking into the earth. He also stored oil on a roadside verge outside Keepers Paddock, which posed obvious risks to road users travelling along the A352 between Dorchester and Sherborne.
The inspection of the site also revealed that the site was being used for the illegal production of bio diesel fuel without the necessary environmental permits or exemptions in place. Allen was served with a series of Anti-Pollution Works Notices by the Environment Agency in 2015, which required him to clear the site of waste oil by a certain deadline. He did not comply with any of the notices, and the matter went to court.
The Environment Agency worked in close collaboration with the West Dorset District Council to effect a major clean-up operation at Keepers Paddock, removing a large quantity of waste oil, contaminated soils and oil-related materials.
Allen was sentenced to a 4-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid community work and made the subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order prohibiting him from operating a waste oil or any other waste business for 10 years on July 15th, with Judge David Ticehurst warning Allen that he would be sent to prison if he appeared before him again.
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