He pleaded guilty to two offences and also received a confiscation order for £100,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The confiscation investigation was conducted by Assets Recovery Agency after referral from the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS).
During October 2003 Armagh City and District Council informed the Environment and Heritage Service of suspected illegal dumping at View Point Road, Newtownhamilton. EHS officers visited the site and observed Mr Hyde driving a bulldozer. Officers observed construction and household waste protruding from the surface and leachate running off into a nearby stream, a tributary of the Corran River. There was also a strong offensive odour similar to landfill gas.
Mr Hyde was interviewed under caution and admitted to owning the land and that he had no waste management licence. On 29 October 2003 EHS officers took a sample of leachate discharging into the adjacent stream. Analysis showed that the leachate was strongly polluting in nature. Mr Hyde was again interviewed and admitted to giving permissions to other persons to infill the land.
A later survey revealed household waste with addresses from Wicklow, Wexford, Donegal and Cork and construction and demolition waste. It was estimated that upwards of 24,340 cubic metres of waste had been deposited at this site.
Mr Hyde plead guilty to one charge under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and to one charge under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and received an 18 months suspended sentence for each offence, suspended for three years, to run concurrently.
Notes to Editors:
1. The 2 offences included:
a. Article 4(1)c of The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The charge related to keeping, treating or disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health between 21 October 2003 and 3 March 2004.
b. Article 7(1)a of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. The charge related to discharging of a polluting matter so that it entered a waterway, namely an unnamed tributary of the Corran River on the 29 October 2003.
2. The site at View Point Road, Newtownhamilton is less than 0.5 miles from Mr Hyde’s residence.
3. Leachate is defined by the Landfill Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 as any liquid percolating through deposited waste and emitted from or contained within a landfill.
4. For media enquiries, please contact DOE Press Office 028 9054 0014 or out-of-hours call EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned.
