February 15th, 2006

A businessman from South Wales has been fined £24,000 for two offenses relating to the illegal disposal of asbestos waste. This included the burning of asbestos, and the man pleaded guilty of improper disposal at his business premises. He was fined 12,000 GBP for each of the two offenses, bringing the total to £24,000.

The charges against Colin Stevens included disposing of asbestos on a site without the necessary license, and also disposing of asbestos in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution. Both actions violated the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Fire officers from South Wales were called out to a blaze in 2003, and Stevens, who was present, admitted starting it. It was confirmed that asbestos was present in the buildings, and due to the large volumes of smoke being created by the fire there were major concerns about asbestos fibers polluting the air.

The sentencing judge stated that the defendant had: "embarked on an exercise to conveniently dispose of the structure to secure financial gain. There had been no risk assessment undertaken and his actions were wholly unreasonable and dangerous".