Two County Armagh companies have collectively faced financial penalties of more than £13,000 after being found guilty today at Craigavon Crown Court for breaches of waste management legislation.
Portadown Recycling and Skip Hire Limited, of Brownstown Business Centre in Portadown, was fined £7,000.
A compensation order of £5,912.10 was granted to HM Revenue and Customs for lost revenue.
Jameson Properties, the site owner of the same address, was fined £500.
The offences related to a site inspection carried out on 10 May 2011 by officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) at lands off Derrycor Road in Portadown.
They found a range of illegal waste deposits including brick, concrete, tiles, wood, metal, rubber crumb, glass and plastic bottles, buried on site.
Much of the waste had been through a mechanical process and had been shredded before deposit.
An NIEA survey showed that approximately 7,639 tonnes of waste had been deposited on site without the necessary waste authorisations.
Portadown Recycling and Skip Hire had pleaded guilty, at an earlier hearing, to depositing 1,970 tonnes of waste (without there being a licence or exemption in place) at the Derrycor Road site.
An NIEA spokesperson said: “This is a significant outcome which has prevented further waste crime and environmental damage from taking place.
“NIEA officers will be continuing their efforts to ensure that environmental legislation is vigorously enforced in serious cases such as this.”
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