ENVIRONMENTAL crime isn’t just casual fly-tipping or burning rubbish in your garden.

To serious organised criminals it can provide a huge source of income.

Most minor environmental misdemeanours are dealt with by local authorities – but for the most serious or complex stuff there’s a special team to stop it.

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Yorkshire Environmental Crime Team (YECT) was set up in 1996 when the EA, a government partnership, formed.

YECT, which has 15 officers across the county, investigates and prosecutes all types of serious organised crimes from the illegal storage of dangerous materials to crooks who are illegally contracted to dump tonnes of waste.

Their portfolio ranges across land and water from the dangerous to the downright disgusting – one Calderdale case involved the illegal dumping of chicken waste which had leaked into a reservoir.

The team works with police, the Department of Transport and Customs and Excise, to name but a few, to enforce the law.

The powers include surveillance (under the controversial anti-terrorism Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act), roadside stop and checks and arrest warrants.

From the moment a member of the public reports a suspect environmental crime YECT can be called in.

The team may bring in a suspect for questioning under caution and if there’s a good chance of a prosecution the EA will pay for it.

Prosecutions can take from three months to years in the most complicated cases but the results are often worth it.

Serious environmental law breakers, who are often known to police for other crimes, can receive huge fines and jail sentences.

And now under the Proceeds of Crime Act their ill-gotten gains may be recovered.

Mike Robotham, who is stationed at the EA office in Leeds, has been an environmental crime officer for 15 years.

Mr Robotham has helped set up prosecutions in the Huddersfield area.

He says: “Environmental crime is all about cutting costs.

“Criminals realise that there is serious money in the illegal waste industry and it’s a good front for money laundering. A lot of organised crime is environmental crime.”

Current popular environmental crimes include illegal skip businesses, asbestos disposal, mis-describing waste (dishonestly down-rating waste to cut costs) and tyre dumping.

Mike says: “Tyre tipping is a real problem and we take it very seriously and we’re prepared to use lots of powers to clamp down on it.

“Asbestos dumping is one of those crimes that’s evergreen because it’s fundamentally expensive to get rid of and there’s only a limited number of sites where you can dispose of it.”

Mike says about 90% of cases are reported by the public calling EA’s free phone 0800 807060 line.

Mr Robotham: “We rely so heavily on information from the public.

“We do try to improve people’s lives and make it a better place for people. If people ring things in we will go out of the way to help them. We try to relieve what’s making people’s lives a misery.

“We are and we have been for some time very tough on crime. We have the latest kit for detecting it.

“The criminal fraternity need to look over their shoulders because we are not far behind them and the courts are getting more switched on to it and are starting to hand out tougher sentences.”

Case 1: The tyre dumper

Kyriacos Kyrianou, of Shelley Lane, Kirkburton, stored up to 15,000 waste tyres without a permit on a site off Huddersfield Road, Honley.

Officers from the Environment Agency had carried out a covert surveillance operation and discovered tyres in lorry trailers.

In November 2007 Kyrianou was fined £5,000 plus £1,000 costs after admitting storing.

But he continued to store approximately 10,000 used tyres on the site next to the River Holme.

And in April was threatened with jail by a crown court judge unless he removes them at his own expense by October 26.

Case 2: The river polluter

BUSINESSMAN Adam Khan, who owned Dr Clean Ltd, Queen’s Mill Road Industrial Estate, was fined £50,000 after detergent from his factory spilled into the River Holme.

Hundreds of fish including brown trout and grayling were killed when the highly-toxic chemical entered a drain. The damage affected more than two-and-a-half kilometres of the river.

An EA official was able to trace the source of the pollution to the cleaning products factory and found Khan had failed to carry out a proper risk assessment to dispose of the chemical.

In January 2008 a judge at Bradford Crown Court told Khan he would face up to 18 months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.