Central Coast builder Thomas Paul Constructions fined for illegal dumping
A Central Coast builder has been busted burying tonnes of construction waste at a remote Hunter Valley property to avoid more than $1 million in tip fees.
A prominent Central Coast builder has been convicted of illegally dumping more than 4500sq m of construction waste to avoid paying $1 million in tip fees.
Thomas Hughes, owner of Thomas Paul Constructions, has been ordered to pay almost $150,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to unlawfully transporting waste and using a Hunter Valley property as an illegal dump.
The disgraced builder has also been ordered to pay for the removal and clean up of the illegal tip site, which is expected to come in at more than $1.7 million after he was sentenced in the Land and Environment Court on Thursday.
Justice Rachel Pepper also ordered Hughes place “name and shame” advertisements within the first five pages of three separate publications to alert potential homebuyers of his criminal behaviour.
The court heard Hughes bought a property at Sandy Hollow in the Hunter Valley in his 16-year-old grandson’s name on October 21, 2013.
On April 27, 2015, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) received a tip off that for the past fourteen months his business Thomas Paul Constructions had been illegally dumping large quantities of building materials at the premises.
The court heard that from the moment he bought the land until December 2014, Hughes directed drivers Michael Mizzi and Colin Forster to pick up trucks filled with waste from his head office at 9 Reliance Drive, Tuggerah, and transport them to the site about 180km away.
The court also heard Hughes directed that holes be dug at the premises and for the drivers to dump the waste in the holes and cover them up with soil.
On May 26 and 27, 2016, the EPA conducted an excavation and environmental assessment of the premises and found building waste in 13 of 17 test pits.
Two of the test pits were found to contain a mix of fragments of wood, metal, bricks, ceramic tiles, fibrous cement sheeting, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) pipe, concrete and other materials associated with the construction or demolition of buildings.
The EPA estimated the amount of dumped waste was no less than 4500sq m.
Justice Pepper said in short, Mr Hughes was aware that he was “doing the wrong” thing by using the premises as a waste facility.
“As was stated in his written submission, he `admits that the offence was committed knowingly, to avoid the cost of lawful disposal’,” she told the court.
“In other words, he deliberately and intentionally committed the offences in a co-ordinated and premeditated manner.”
An EPA Waste Levy Compliance Officer estimated the cost to dispose of the waste legally at Buttonderry Tip would have cost Hughes between $1,088,100 and $1,460,250.
“There is no doubt whatsoever that Mr Hughes made a significant financial gain in the commission of the offences,” Justice Pepper said.
She found that while he buried the material “without any protective lining to prevent leaching of any contaminants from the waste” there was no “substantial environmental damage” caused.
The court heard Hughes had good prospects of rehabilitation having operated in the building industry for 55 years with an “unblemished record”.
“I would not, given the deliberate nature of the offences and the absence of any express statement of contrition from Mr Hughes, characterise his likelihood of reoffending as `extremely low’,” Justice Pepper said.
“Nevertheless, in the circumstances of these proceedings, including the significant financial cost Mr Hughes will incur in remediating the premises, I accept that Mr Hughes is unlikely to reoffend and has good prospects of rehabilitation.”
Justice Pepper ordered he pay a fine of $45,000 to the Environmental Trust, the EPA’s legal fees of $60,000 and the EPA’s investigation costs of $42,593.43.
She also ordered he cover the bill to clean up the site, which the court heard would be between $1,712,700 and $1,724,580, and take out advertisements within 28 days.
For the first time the Express Advocate can now reveal the convictions come after his building company Thomas Paul Constructions was issued a clean-up notice by the EPA for doing the same thing at a property at Millfield a month before he purchased the property at Sandy Hollow.
He has not been charged with any offences relating to the Millfield property and the clean-up continues.
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