Companies agree to pay enforcement undertakings of £30,000 to a Norfolk charity after admitting their respective roles in a river pollution incident
A potato product supplier and the landlord of a warehouse have entered into enforcement undertakings of a combined value of £30,000 in relation to a pollution incident.
Lamb Weston/Meijer UK Ltd was using a warehouse leased from Ralph Harrison & Co Ltd for the storage of potatoes. Rotting potatoes within the warehouse at Little Snoring Airfield generated liquids, which entered a nearby river.
The liquid entered surface water drains and passed into a tributary of the River Stiffkey. Environment Agency officers found that liquids released had reduced dissolved oxygen in the water, resulting in the death of fish and invertebrates in a 1km stretch.
No written lease agreement was in place between the parties and no risk assessment had been prepared to set out what action would be taken to prevent the escape of polluting liquid.
Due to the localised nature of the environmental harm, proactive action taken to prevent any further occurrences and the companies’ lack of previous convictions; the Environment Agency entered into enforcement undertakings with the companies.
In response to the incident, Lamb Weston/Meijer UK Ltd arranged an ecological survey, created a template emergency action plan, improved staff training and employed a new storage manager with responsibility for environmental management. The company also improved potato storage processes and temperature management.
Ralph Harrison & Co Ltd dredged the watercourse to remove remaining pollution and installed new valve and pump systems to prevent future incidents.
Enforcement Undertakings
Lamb Weston/Meijer UK Ltd offered to donate £23,100 to the Norfolk Rivers Trust for use in its projects around the River Stiffkey.
Ralph Harrison Co Ltd offered to donate £5,000 to the same charity.
Lamb West/Meijer UK Ltd reimbursed Ralph Harrison & Co Ltd’s clean-up costs of £26,476.
Natural Resources Wales issues warning to waste companies following £292,000 compensation order
The three directors of a North Wales waste management company (Patricia Gaffey, Joseph Gaffey and Michael Gaffey) have been sentenced for running an illegal waste operation.
Breaches
Porthmadog Skip Hire was found to be in breach of its environmental permit and was prosecuted for illegally storing waste.
Penalty
The directors were each sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay a total of £292,000 in compensation, payable within three months, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or face further prison sentences.
The fine was based on the potential value at auction of the company’s assets and the personal assets of all three directors.
Manufacturing firm pays £37,000 to a charity under an Enforcement Undertaking for not meeting its packaging supply obligations
A Nottinghamshire-based manufacturer and distributor of adhesives and paints has entered into an enforcement undertaking after it was found that it had not met its obligations under the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007, as amended.
Sanglier Ltd made a pro-active offer of an enforcement undertaking after it identified that it had not met its producer responsibilities.
An investigation by the Environment Agency identified that the company had not met its obligation as a producer between 2005 and 2015. The company subsequently registered with a compliance scheme for the first time in September 2016.
Enforcement Undertakings
Sanglier Ltd donated £37,450 to the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The undertaking will be used to fund an initiative to motive and support volunteers across the UK to take action against litter. The undertaking also financed litter picking equipment.
Sanglier Ltd also paid the Environment Agency’s costs.
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