Nottingham man jailed after serious fire at illegal waste site
- Published
Firefighters battled a fire near Walesby for a month in 2016
A man who ran three illegal waste sites in the East Midlands has been jailed for 10 months.
Paul Riina-Moretti, 47, was found to be operating the sites after a large fire at a plant in Walesby, Nottinghamshire.
He was also found to be running operations in Normanton-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire and Burton on the Wolds, Leicestershire.
Riina-Moretti pleaded guilty to three offences of operating a waste facility without an environmental permit.
On Tuesday, Nottingham Crown Court heard a major fire broke out at the biggest site, Oakham Farm in Forest Lane, near Walesby, in the autumn of 2016.
The Environment Agency said the blaze took the fire service more than a month to put out.
The defendant had rented two former poultry production units, telling farm officials he wanted to store clean plastics at Oakham Farm.
Aerial footage was filmed of the warehouse blaze in Walesby, Nottinghamshire
Riina-Moretti, of Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, said his intention was that the plastics would be transferred to an incinerator for burning and converting to energy.
However, significant amounts of mixed waste were deposited and stored at the site where the fire broke out, the Environment Agency said.
The blaze generated a huge plume of smoke and residents at nearby properties were required to close doors and windows.
One mother and baby were even forced to move out temporarily due to the smoke, the agency said.
The Environment Agency said significant amounts of waste were deposited of at the illegal sites
A spokesperson for the organisation said: "These sites posed a significant environmental threat due to the high risk of fire and potentially significant impact to local communities and amenities. 
"Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment, harm human health and undermine local legitimate waste companies. "
Also sentenced at the same hearing was Paul Billingham, 55, of Wolverhampton Road West, Willenhall, who admitted depositing waste at the three sites.
He received a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, external, on X, external, or on Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk, external.