Lucy
Harding - 9-May-2008 - The Environment Agency
has prosecuted the owners of a Hampshire
landfill site after the company twice committed
an error.
Veolia Environmental
Services (Hampshire), who operate the Efford
Landfill Site at Milton Road, Pennington
pleaded guilty to both offences at Lyndhurst
Magistrates Court on Wednesday 7 May. The
company was fined a total of £5000
and ordered to pay costs of £2150.
Veolia Environmental
Services (Hampshire) has a consent to discharge
trade effluent, which includes site drainage,
from the landfill site into the Keyhaven
Marshes. The conditions of the agreement
ensure that the natural environment of the
conservation area is protected and there
is no negative impact on the marshes.
At the time of the offences,
the consent required the company to meet
a level of no more than 10 milligrams per
litre of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
and 60 milligrams per litre (mg/l) of suspended
solids . BOD is the measure of the amount
of oxygen taken up by bacteria entering
a watercourse. At high levels it can strip
the river of oxygen and aquatic life can
suffocate. Suspended solids can interfere
with fish gills and blanket the bottom of
a stream.
On 17 January 2007,
an Environment Agency officer took a routine
sample at the landfill site and it showed
that the suspended solids level was 121mg/l,
over twice the agreed consent. The company
had also taken their own sample on that
day and this gave a reading of 127mg/l.
A further sample was
taken on 27 February 2007 and this time
the results showed that the BOD level was
20.1mg/l or again twice the consent.
Environment Officer
Emma Hartwell said: “These two incidents
could have caused damage to the Keyhaven
Marshes where the water is discharged. The
marshes are a very sensitive habitat and
have several environmental designations.
The company had taken its own samples and
so were clearly aware that the water they
discharged was double the permitted level,
but they failed to take any action.
“This result sends out
a clear message that large companies such
as Veolia have a responsibility to ensure
that their operations do not have an adverse
impact the local environment, and that the
Environment Agency will not take breaches
of this nature lightly.”
Ends
+ More
Partnership working
to reduce illegal waste at Cornwall recycling
centres
Paul Gainey - 7-May-2008
- The Environment Agency has been working
in partnership Cornwall County Council and
waste management company SITA and other
regulatory agencies to reduce the amount
of commercial waste being illegally dumped
at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs)
in Cornwall.
Spot checks were carried
out at United Mines on those suspected of
disposing of trade waste at the site, which
is designed and funded to accept domestic
waste only.
Further checks will
be taking places at other recycling centres
across Cornwall over the coming weeks.
Phil Rudin, Operations
Manager for SITA Cornwall said: ‘The majority
of businesses in Cornwall are very responsible
and already use the correct facilities for
disposing of trade waste, or have their
segregated commercial waste collected, thereby
recycling large quantities of waste that
might otherwise go to landfill.
‘However there are businesses
who still use HWRCs, which causes traffic
congestion at the sites and reduces the
space available in the containers for household
recyclable waste.’
SITA Cornwall currently
operate a disclaimer scheme whereby people
suspected of bringing trade waste to HWRCs
are asked to complete a declaration form
to say that the waste brought to the site
is domestic waste.
Businesses have a legal
duty to dispose of their waste safely and
responsibly and recycling saves the county
from wasting valuable resources as well
as huge landfill costs.
Nick Keen, an Environment
Agency Officer involved in the operation
said: ‘We are determined to ensure that
waste is disposed of safely, where it cannot
harm people or the environment. And it is
not right that legitimate waste carriers
who care about their impact on the environment
are facing unfair competition from people
who refuse to register or just dump on domestic
landfill sites.’
Chris Maltbaek of Cornwall
County Council said: ‘HWRCs are paid for
by domestic council tax payers to be for
their exclusive use. We have to ensure that
their use of the site is as easy and pleasant
as possible.’
The SITA Cornwall
helpdesk can offer advice to businesses
on how to recycle and dispose of commercial
waste. For further information contact the
SITA Cornwall helpdesk on 08456 300 300,
Cornwallhelpdesk@sita.co.uk or see www.sitacornwall.co.uk
