wo haulage companies have been fined after they were found to be illegally depositing waste on a site in Portadown, County Armagh.

Carrickmore-based Brendan Loughran &amp; Sons and Armagh-based Colin Donnelly, who trades as Donnelly Transport, were found guilty of unlawfully depositing waste at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on 1 August.

Brendan Loughran &amp; Sons, which has an O-licence authorising up to three vehicles and two trailers, was fined £15,000 with a £15 offenders’ levy.

Colin Donnelly, who is authorised to run up to eight vehicles and eight trailers, must pay a £2,500 fine and a £15 offenders’ levy.

Officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) discovered a tipper, owned and operated by Brendan Loughran &amp; Sons, unloading  clay and soil waste at the Derrykeeran Road site in November 2014. The site did not have a waste management permit in place.

During another visit in March 2016, officers spotted tippers operated by Colin Donnelly tipping waste clay, stone, soil and reinforced concrete on the site.

The NIEA estimated that more than 39,000 tonnes of waste was deposited on the site.

Landowner Fergal McNally was fined £6,000 for the unlawful disposal and keeping of waste at the site. His son, Michael McNally, was fined £3,000 for keeping waste.

Both men had pleaded guilty to waste offences in May.

<a href="http://www.commercialmotor.com/news/compliance/brendan-loughran-sons-and-donnelly-transport-fined-waste-offences">Source: Commercial Motor</a>