Former builder allowed the dumping of asbestos on his land for £3 million
A jail sentence has been handed down to an ex-builder who made almost £3 million by permitting lethal asbestos to be dumped on his land.
Over a four-year period, Christopher Garrett allowed the dumping of 12,000 tonnes of waste material on land next to his Devon home.
Authorities conceded that the ground would have to be left in its contaminated state, due to a lack of funds for remediation work. Essex Crown Court heard that an operation to decontaminate the ground would come with a £2.5 million price tag – an unaffordable cost.
A repeat offender, with serious implications for the environment
Mr Garrett, of Kingsteignton in Devon, had previously been convicted for similar offending on the same land. Despite a suspended jail sentence having been imposed on the 64-year-old in 2016 – with a judge having said his illegal activity “must stop” – he went on to breach this term by resuming his unlawful operation.
He pleaded guilty to treating controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health during the period between July 2018 and May 2022. He also admitted a count of allowing activity that contravened an environmental permit.
The former builder was imprisoned for a total of 32 months, and will be subject to a £200,000 confiscation order when his property next to the affected area is sold.
“You were unable to resist the lure of significant sums of money”
The court heard that Mr Garrett’s offending brought him a benefit amounting to £2,888,548, including the costs of remediation.
Judge James Adkin stated: “You were unable to resist the lure of significant sums of money to discharge the waste on the land. You did not care about the environment.”
He added that the activity constituted “industrial-scale environmental contamination by an individual”.
The prosecution said that the contaminated land was toxic and worthless.
The court heard that Mr Garrett, a father of two, permitted the illegal depositing of huge quantities of waste on the site, and that he had even attempted to use heavy machinery to cover it up.
The Environment Agency issued multiple warnings to him about his actions, and he behaved aggressively towards enforcement personnel – a situation that ended up with him in court.
Government agency declares the “worst offender in Devon and Cornwall” for the volume of dumped asbestos
The drilling of holes on Mr Garrett’s site revealed that several types of asbestos had been dumped in the ground. Some of this asbestos was the form of the mineral that posed the greatest risk to human health.
Mr Garrett received cash from those who were seeking to dump asbestos on his land as an alternative to legally compliant – but more expensive – methods of disposing of the notorious carcinogen, as well as demolition and construction waste.
Some 1,500 vehicle loads were dumped at the site, with the waste having a 1.2-metre depth and occupying around 10,000 cubic metres.
Mr Garrett’s defence lawyer conceded: “It’s a bad history, I accept that.”
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency described him as a “repeat offender who showed no care for the environment or human health.
“Asbestos was buried with a floodplain. He is the worst offender in Devon and Cornwall for the quantity of asbestos he illegally disposed of.”
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