A West Lothian haulage company has been slapped with a £600 fine after it illegally burned waste on land in Livingston.
Basil Baird and Sons was served the fixed monetary penalty (FMP) by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) after the regulator found that it had burned waste at Nethershiel Farm in East Calder. There was no authorisation permitting burning at the location.
On 14 June 2024, SEPA officers attended the operating centre where they found waste being burned in a skip.
A director of the haulage firm, which holds a licence authorising 25 lorries and 36 trailers, confirmed that he had lit the fire, burning paperwork from his business activities and other items in the skip.
Calum McGregor, of SEPA’s environmental crime team said: “Illegally burning waste is unacceptable and often done to avoid the charges for taking wastes to permitted waste sites for recovery or disposal.
“When inappropriate waste is burned it can release harmful gases and any ash and waste which is left behind can also pollute surface and groundwater.
“This civil penalty should act as a warning to others that we will take action against those who ignore Scotland’s environmental regulations.
“There are very few occasions when burning is permissible so I would urge anyone looking to dispose of waste in this way to ensure that they check what authorisations are required before any burning takes place.”
FMPs are not issued for all offences. The environmental regulator said they were normally appropriate where an offence has not caused environmental harm or has caused minimal environmental harm with no lasting environmental effects or impacts on communities.
They can also be issued for administrative offences and where little, if any, financial benefit arises.
