Skip hire firm deliberates appeal over £100,000 fine

Earlier this month the company was found guilty of illegally disposing of hazardous materials including asbestos at a waste transfer station in Launceston, Cornwall.

While RK Transport says it is “unable to comment fully about this case at present”, the company has released a statement defending some of the accusations levelled against it.

It said that both of the sites identified in the case – the waste transfer station and a nearby farm – were registered with, and monitored by, the Environment Agency from the outset.

The company said it consulted fully with the Agency during the planning application and construction of a screening bank at the transfer station, referred to as a ‘bund’, and that it had paid over £3,000 to the agency in site monitoring fees during the build work.

Much of the prosecution case centred around the materials used for the bund’s construction, but in a statement, RK Transport said: “This project involved the recycling and reuse of earth and rubble, coming mainly from a reputable national company who documented it as ‘inert earth and rubble’.”

RK Transport further pointed out that despite receiving many unannounced site visits from Environment Agency officers, “No adverse comments were made on any site reports during that time”.

The statement added: “In full co-operation, as soon as a concern was raised by Environment Agency officers, RK Transport acted upon the advice and ceased using the material in question.

“On both sites referred to, the structures were built to fulfil a function and in both instances this has been achieved. The Environment Agency confirmed in court that they had assessed the risk as ‘having the potential for minor environmental impact’ and that they ‘did not require its removal’.”

RK Transport added that this was not a “‘disposal operation” but a legitimate construction project, conducted openly and monitored by the Environment Agency throughout.

Maxine Perella