Court date on removal of towering Brierley Hill waste pile
A High?Court date has been set for a firm at the centre of a row over a towering waste pile in Brierley Hill to answer claims of failing to meet strict targets on clearing the rubbish.
The Environment Agency will next month mount a fresh legal bid to enforce sanctions against Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd, also known as RDF.
The hearing will take place on June 17 at the High Court sitting in Birmingham.
The company was told at a hearing held last year that the front of the site should be cleared of rubbish by the end of March.
But officials from the Environment Agency are expected to argue the firm and its director Robert McNaughton have failed to remove the waste, which can be seen from the main gate of the Moor Street plant.
Residents living nearby, including in new homes built on the former Royal Brierley Crystal site, demanded a clear-up after the waste pile once reached 40ft high.
Mr McNaughton declined to comment today, but his legal representatives have previously blamed bad weather for hampering the clean-up process.
In a statement today the Environment Agency's West Midlands manager David Hudson, said it would be presenting evidence to Birmingham High Court showing the rubbish had not been removed.
"At this hearing, we will ask the Court to punish the company and the director (Mr McNaughton) for failing to remove the section of waste visible from the main gate, as agreed on 10 December 2012," he said.
"We will also seek to prevent any further waste going onto the site. We have asked for this prohibition of waste previously, but the High Court has not agreed to this action so far.
"Finally, we will ask the Court to punish the company, Mr McNaughton and previous director, Sharon McCann, for breach of promises made to the court on June 18, 2012."
The Environment Agency has already spent more than £40,000 in legal costs.
