The Environment Agency has obtained court orders to restrict access to two illegal waste sites.
The restriction orders prohibit anyone from importing waste to the two separate sites in Minster, Isle of Sheppey, and Yorkshire.
The orders also allow the Environment Agency to prevent anyone from entering the sites without permission, and can last for up to six months.
The Environment Agency was previously criticised after it was revealed the regulator had only applied for six restriction orders since being given the power to do so in 2018.
Under Section 109A of the Environment Act 1995, the Environment Agency can apply for a restriction order when there is a risk of serious pollution to the environment or serious harm to human health, and the notice is necessary to prevent that risk from continuing.
Last year, a House of Lords inquiry was heavily critical of the Environment Agency and said it was difficult to conclude that ‘incompetence’ has not been a factor in failures to prevent and effectively prosecute waste crime.
Dr Anna Willetts, defence solicitor at gunnercooke llp, gave evidence to the inquiry and raised the issue of restriction orders.
She told Circular Online that she was ‘confused and surprised’ that the orders had not been sought more over the past seven years.