They tell me that five years ago, lorries started turning up to tip waste over the cliffs at an illegal dump site a few miles away at Eastchurch Gap.
It's something the previous head of the Environment Agency called "the new narcotics", and Sam says waste criminals can be involved in multiple offences, from money laundering to human trafficking.
We don't know who's behind the Eastchurch Gap site, nor why they dumped the rubbish, but illegal tips are a huge problem across the country and one that's increasingly being exploited by criminal gangs.
Forms of waste crime include fly-tipping to avoid paying tax or high processing costs, as well as illegal fires and exporting waste to other countries with looser regulations.
He says criminals can set themselves up with a licence to manage waste for as little as £154, making hundreds of thousands - even millions of pounds - in this manner.
