Huge illegal dump with possible links to crime gangs shut down and investigated
The Environment Agency (EA) will not release the location of the site, but it is understood to be comparable in size or larger than the well-publicised Hoad’s Wood illegal dump in Ashford, Kent.
The EA estimates Hoad's Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) contained around 30,000 tonnes of household and construction waste, and several acres of trees were cut down to improve access for vehicles and to maximise the space available.
The agency says measures are now in place to stop any further criminal activity at Northwich's illegal dump.
It came to light following a House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee’s investigation into the scale and impact of illegal waste dumping in the UK, which it estimates costs taxpayers in England £1 billion a year.
The report also uncovered alarming connections between large-scale illegal waste dumping and organised crime gangs involved in drug dealing, firearms, money laundering, and people trafficking.
In an open letter to the government, the Lords' committee said: “These gangs are attracted to the low-risk opportunity to make large sums of money and commit crimes from coordinated fly-tipping to illegal exports and landfill tax fraud."
In evidence given before the committee, the EA disclosed the existence of six sites across the UK, including Northwich, all on a similar scale to or larger than Hoad’s Wood.
These are in Kent, Cornwall, Norfolk, and a further two in Lancashire.
A spokesman for the EA’s north west area said: “We work closely with the police, local authorities, and compliant waste businesses to combat waste crime and protect the environment and communities.
“Through community engagement, we aim to increase public understanding of this land-damaging criminality and raise awareness of the importance of using licensed waste carriers.”
The committee’s report is critical of both the EA and police forces’ ‘failure to tackle waste crime’, which it says has ‘serious environmental, economic and social consequences.’
It adds: “Waste crime is estimated to cost England’s economy over £1 billion every year, pollutes our environment with harmful matter, blights communities, burdens local authorities and landowners with clean-up costs, and is undermining the government’s economic and environmental agendas.”
