Illegal waste disposal leads to ‘O’ licence being revoked

A non-disclosure of a conviction for operating illegal waste disposal sites has resulted in a commercial vehicle operator’s licence being revoked.

At a recent public inquiry, traffic commissioner Gerallt Evans heard the case of James Keith Liverick trading as Moredun Garage

The public inquiry had been called as the result of Liverick not disclosing his conviction, which included using his operating centre in Alston, Cumbria, as illegal waste disposal site.

Although he was aware of the inquiry, the operator did not attend or send representation.

The commissioner heard evidence of many serious issues during the inquiry.

Liverick failed to co-operate with and deliberately obstructed the Environment Agency enforcement investigation.

He also persistently failed to comply with their regulations for more than two years despite warnings and other interventions.

Furthermore, he gained an unfair commercial advantage by using a vehicle to support unlawful activities.

A transport consultant indicates an almost complete absence of systems and procedures to prevent operator licence compliance failings.

The operator also had a 100% failure rate at MOT.

Evans said “Mr Liverick’s conduct in blatantly and persistently failing to comply with environmental regulations means that I cannot have any faith in his ability to comply with operator licensing requirements in future.”

The licence was revoked, and the commissioner gave a 12-month disqualification for the operator.

Further details can be found on Liverick’s revocation can be found here.