A builder landed Salford City Council with a £97,000 problem when he dumped over 200 tonnes of waste soil on council-owned land.
John Gorman, 43, used a 13-tonne mini digger to shift over 100 skips-worth of waste and soil from property he’d bought at Hill Top in Walkden.
But Salford and Manchester Magistrates Court heard that when he ran out of money, he decided to dispose of 250 tonnes of soil onto what he thought was wasteland next door.
He later found out that the land was owned by Salford City Council.
Magistrates were told that it could cost up to £97,000 to clear and restore the land.
Salford City Council is now considering civil action against Mr Gorman to recover the cost of the clean-up.
Mr Gorman, of Barlow Street in Patricroft, appeared before magistrates on Wednesday 6 January.
He admitted one offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 of illegally dumping soil on August 25 last year.
He was fined £800 and ordered to pay £1,070 costs and £120 victim surcharge.
The court heard that Mr Gorman bought the 1,196 sq m plot shortly before the offence in summer last year.
Salford council was alerted to the issue by local residents who complained about soil being dumped on the land beyond his property.
Environmental crime officers visited the site and found large piles of contaminated soil which contained bricks, general building waste, litter, glass, plastic, tyres and the invasive Japanese Knotweed plant.
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The following day they found Mr Gorman’s son, also called John, compacting the contaminated soil with a mechanical digger.
When interviewed by council officers Mr Gorman Snr showed them skip hire receipts totalling £6,680 to prove he had been moving the soil.
He admitted he had not asked for permission to move the soil onto the council-owned land. He said he thought it was just wasteland that no-one owned and didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.
He added that he was not aware the soil contained Japanese Knotweed nor that it is illegal to move soil contaminated with it.
He then offered to clean up the site and said he was sorry if he had cost anyone money or caused any inconvenience.
Speaking after the case Deputy City Mayor, Councillor David Lancaster, said: “All land is owned by someone and it is illegal to dump waste on any piece of land without the landowner’s permission.
“Mr Gorman should have checked ownership although he would still not have been given permission to dump soil from his property on this land. Now the criminal case is over, we can decide what action needs to be taken to get this problem dealt with.”
