A Derbyshire man has been ordered to pay nearly £37,000 in fines and costs for operating waste sites illegally around Nottinghamshire.
Thomas Reilly, 74, was fined a total of £19,248 and ordered to pay costs of £17,500 and a victim surcharge of £120 at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Reilly previously pleaded guilty to four offences related to operating sites without the necessary environmental permits and illegally depositing waste on land between 2016 and 2023.
The court heard that Reilly, trading as Tom/Thomas Reilly Groundworks, deposited 180 tonnes of inert soil at Top Farm, Barton Lane, and Barton-in-Fabis near Nottingham without an environmental permit.
The investigation by the Environment Agency included a drone survey at Top Farm. The aerial images revealed that a variety of waste materials were being stored, including black bin bags, bricks, concrete, and green waste.
A report by the team said it appeared to be a landfill site without the necessary permissions or environmental protection infrastructure. This would include impermeable lining plus leachate and gas extraction.
It was accepted that Reilly was not responsible for all the waste deposited at this site, but he admitted that he had left his digger there for considerable periods of time.
Reilly also admitted to operating an illegal waste site on land at Oxton Road in Southwell between 2020 and 2021, where he imported, deposited and disposed of eight lorry loads of waste soils without an environmental permit.
An inspection revealed that six deep pits had been dug in the ground, as well as a stable block, filled with white goods, including fridges and bags containing books and magazines.
Between April and July 2023, Reilly also unlawfully deposited 160 tonnes of waste soil on a parcel of land at Winking Hill, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Leics.