SC Chadwick and Sons bosses spared jail after Bolton Council's £3 million clean-up

Family business SC Chadwick and Sons, which had been established since 1962, repeatedly ignored orders from the Environment Agency — and when they abandoned the site in 2016 the council was forced to fork out £3m to clean up the site in Oakenbottom Road, near Breightmet, Bolton.

All three appeared at Bolton Crown Court to be sentenced for breaching environmental regulations.

The waste management facilities run by the company in Bolton together with one in Manchester Road in Leigh, repeatedly breached regulations over how much waste was allowed to be on the site at one time, creating a risk of fires and pollution between June, 2014 and February, 2016.

Michael Chadwick and Sean Chadwick leave court

Michael Chadwick, 72 and son Sean Chadwick, 48, admitted breaching the requirements on an environmental permit at the Bolton site.

Together with Gary Chadwick, 50, also a son of Michael, they also breached the terms of an environmental permit at the Leigh site and later failed to act on an enforcement order to cease operations there in February, 2015.

Prosecutor Mark Monaghan said: “The risks here were of fire, odour and fugitive emissions.

“There is a history of fires on the site – there eight between 2006 and 2013.

“Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue attended, and found risks were not managed in an acceptable way.

“There were 172 reports of odour between 2014 and the closure of the site.”

He also said there was a risk from the way waste was stored which could have made its way into a nearby water course at Bradshaw Brook.

Council clear-up at the Breightmet site

The company had its licence suspended several times but the operators kept promising it would change.

On some occasions inspectors found the amount of waste at both sites had actually gone up.

Mr Monaghan added: “Ultimately the Bolton site was abandoned with very high clean up costs.

“Michael Chadwick sold his Leigh site.”

He said the Bolton site cost around £3million to clear up and it was worth £428,000.

The cost of the clear up at the Leigh site was around £400,000 but this was met by the money from selling it.

Recorder Jeremy Lasker said: “The fact is they all knew they were in breach of the conditions

“They continued to trade.

“It was the hope that the sunlit uplands of compliance with the regulations would return in the future.”

Defending all three members of the family, Gordon Wignall, said: “This is a respectable company that did not respond well to the recession.

“It is nothing to do with criminality, everything to do with insolvency.”

Imposing a sentence, the judge said they were “hard working family men” and the offences had taken place some time in the past.

He imposed a sentence of 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months on Michael Chadwick, of Kentwood Avenue in Leigh, and Sean Chadwick, and Manchester Road in Leigh and one of 14 weeks on Gary Chadwick, of Culcheth Hall Drive in Warrington, also suspended for 18 months.

A proceeds of crime timetable, to find out what assets the three men own and what can be repaid, was fixed for next year.

Mark Easedale, an area environment manager for the Environment Agency, said sites which broke the rules caused “harm to the environment.”

He said: “The Environment Agency is committed to taking robust enforcement action against those who break the law, to protect communities and the environment.

“In this case the defendants consistently failed to respond to advice and guidance, warnings and statutory notices requiring action to improve operations at both of their sites.

“The Environment Agency permit waste sites to ensure they operate legally and with minimal impact on the environment.

“Sites that operate outside the terms of their permit undercut legitimate businesses and, in this case, caused harm to the environment through waste fires and misery for residents and businesses.

“They also cost taxpayers money as Bolton Council had to clear the site at considerable expense."