The Environment Agency
is joining the celebrations at Southampton’s
Mela this weekend and will be bringing along
some very unusual guests to the festivities.
The Environment Agency
is joining the celebrations at Southampton’s
Mela this weekend and will be bringing along
some very unusual guests to the festivities.
The Southampton Mela
2009, a multi-cultural celebration of food,
dance and music takes place between 12 pm
and 9pm on Saturday 18 July at Hoglands
Park. At the Environment Agency’s stand
you will be able to see a variety of the
insects that thrive in Hampshire’s healthy
rivers, including the larvae of mayflies,
caddisflies and stoneflies as well as some
freshwater shrimps.
As well as the bugs
and beasties on show there will also be
competitions on offer including the chance
for children to design a bag featuring an
environmental message and also the opportunity
to take part in a family quiz to adopt a
real otter for a year - and take a toy version
home too.
On the day, we will
also be encouraging residents to look at
our detailed flood map to check whether
they are at risk from flooding. Information
and advice on how to protect yourself and
your property from flooding will also be
freely available at the event.
Over 6,500 homes in
the Southampton area are at risk of flooding
and by taking a few simple measures, people
can help minimise the damage that flooding
causes. The Environment Agency will also
be on hand to offer water saving advice
and give away free devices for the home
so we can all help to save this precious
natural resource.
The Hampshire Wildlife
Trust will also be sharing the Environment
Agency stand and will be encouraging people
on the day to become volunteers for the
Itchen Navigation Project.
Judith Meagher, Area
Communications Officer, said: “The Environment
Agency is very pleased to be supporting
the Mela again. We hope our stand will bring
people much closer to their local environment
and will give everyone a unique insight
into the diverse wildlife that lives within
it.
“We also want people
to be prepared for floods and know what
to do if the worst happens. We strongly
advise that everyone checks whether they
are at risk and has a plan of action that
can be quickly put in place during a flood
emergency.”
For further information
about how to prepare for flooding and to
obtain copies of the Environment Agency’s
three flooding guides visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood
or call Floodline 0845 988 1188.
Notes to Editors
The Itchen Navigation
Project is a partnership between Hampshire
& Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, the
Heritage Lottery Fund, the Environment Agency,
Hampshire County Council, Winchester City
Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Southampton
City Council, Natural England and the Inland
Waterways Association. Major stakeholders
include fishing clubs, landowners and local
communities.
Volunteers are being
sought to carry out preservation work on
some of the historic structures along the
Navigation of the River Itchen. Habitat
enhancement will also be carried out by
volunteers, and water voles, otters, southern
damselfly and a variety of fish including
brown trout, are expected to flourish due
to conservation along the Navigation.
+ More
Fines for hazardous
waste danger
Two businesses have
been fined a total of £20,000 after
hazardous waste residue was left in storage
drums sent to a scrap yard.
Teesside Magistrates’
Court heard yesterday it was only a matter
of luck that the contaminated drums had
not caught fire when they were crushed.
Waste disposal business
UK Resource Management Limited (UKRM), of
Holden Close, Bolckow Road Industrial Estate,
Grangetown, Middlesbrough, was fined a total
of £15,000 and ordered to pay £4,1000
prosecution costs after accepting it had
acted with gross negligence. The company
had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing
to two charges and asked for a third to
be taken into consideration.
William Blythe Limited
(Wm Blythe), of Yule Catto Building, Temple
Fields, Harlow, Essex, was fined £5,000
and ordered to pay £4,1000 prosecution
costs. The company had pleaded guilty at
an earlier hearing to one charge and asked
for a second offence to be taken into consideration.
Trevor Cooper, prosecuting
for the Environment Agency, said since March
2002 UKRM had held a waste management licence
allowing it to keep and treat various wastes.
A condition of this licence required waste
drums to be washed before crushing, to ensure
any hazardous waste residues were removed.
However, on or about
10 October 2006 UKRM received 160 metal
drums, with plastic liners, from chemical
manufacturer Wm Blythe, from its site at
Church, Accrington, Lancashire, where it
manufactures metal salts based on arsenic,
copper, tin and zinc.
UKRM’s drum washing
machinery had broken down that morning and
its usual operator was on holiday but the
company chose not to wait until the drums
could be crushed and disposed of safely.
Mr Cooper said it was
only by “sheer luck” that the drums did
not ignite when crushed and that UKRM had
not checked the state of the drums.
Contaminants included
chromium trioxide (chromic acid), which
is often used in wood preservation and metal
finishing and plating. It is corrosive,
carcinogenic and toxic, and harmful to the
skin, eyes and respiratory system and reacts
with organic material to catch fire.
Paperwork from Wm Blythe
to accompany the drums did not specify they
had contained hazardous waste and the Environment
Agency submitted that this omission meant
the company had fallen well below what was
legally required of it.
On 11 October 2006,
the crushed drums were among a load of drums
taken to a scrap metal dealer, Ward Bros
(Steel) Limited, at Albert Road, Darlington,
who rejected the waste and alerted the Environment
Agency. Paperwork accompanying the drums
described the waste as being “metal”, which
was entirely inadequate, said Mr Cooper.
Environment officers
accompanied the waste back to UKRM and saw
several drums leaking powder and liquid.
Mr Cooper said it was apparent that almost
all the drums were contaminated and had
not been washed out.
There was a strong smell
of chemicals and some of the drums ignited,
creating thick smoke, while others were
leaking powder and liquid, including oils
and paint solvents.
Mr Cooper said: “A fire
was caused, resulting in serious risk to
human health and to the environment.”
District Judge Martin
Walker said: “It is a vital part of the
Environment Agency’s work to protect the
environment and in this case there was the
potential for people to be injured because
the chemicals were potentially very serious.
“UKRM have greater culpability
because they had two distinct breaches of
the regulations and it was not an isolated
incident.”
UKRM had previously
been convicted of five environmental offences
- at Wheldrake, near York, in October 2004;
at Teesside in December 2006; at Hartlepool
in November 2006; at Middlesbrough in December
2006; and at Leeds in February 2007. UKRM
pleaded guilty to the Leeds offence in April
this year and was fined £25,000 by
Leeds magistrates.
In mitigation, the court
heard UKRM had since changed its procedures
to ensure all drums are cleaned before crushing
and both companies had fully co-operated
with the Environment Agency investigation.
Both companies were
given credit for their early guilty pleas.
Speaking after the case,
Environment Agency regulatory officer Andrew
Dobson said: "The handling and disposal
of this waste presented obvious and preventable
risks to people and the environment and
I am pleased the court has viewed this matter
so seriously.
"Waste contaminated with even small
quantities of dangerous substances may be
classified as hazardous waste, which must
be labelled, handled and disposed of in
accordance with strict environmental and
safety controls.
"In this case, the failure to adequately
describe and treat such waste continued
from the point of production, through the
waste management process to the point of
disposal, when there was a chemical reaction
which caused some of the drums to ignite."
Photographs of the burning
drums are available. Please contact the
press office on 0113 231 2464.
Offences dealt with
today:
William Blythe Limited
pleaded guilty to one charge:
On or about 10 October
2006 at Holden Close, Grangetown, Middlesbrough,
did dispose of controlled waste, namely
drums contaminated with a hazardous substance,
in a manner likely to cause pollution of
the environment or harm to human health.
Contrary to Section 33(1)(c) and 33(6) of
the Environmental Protection Act 11000.
It also asked for a
second offence to be taken into consideration:
On or about 10 October
2006 William Blythe Limited failed as the
producer and/or disposer of
controlled waste, namely drums contaminated
with a hazardous substance, to take all
such
measures as were applicable to you in that
capacity as were reasonable in the circumstances
in
that (a) it failed to prevent any contravention
by any other person of Section 33 of the
Environmental Protection Act 11000 and/or
(b) failed to provide an adequate written
description
of the said waste.
Contrary to Section 34(1) and 34(6) of the
Environmental Protection Act 11000.
UK Resource Management
Limited pleaded guilty to two charges:
1) On or about 11 October
2006 at Albert Road, Darlington, did dispose
of controlled waste, namely drums contaminated
with a hazardous substance, in a manner
likely to cause pollution of the environment
or harm to human health.
Contrary to Section 33(1)(c) and 33(6) of
the Environmental Protection Act 11000.
2) On or about 11 October
2006 at Holden Close, Grangetown, Middlesbrough
did contravene
condition 1.1.1 of waste management licence
EAWML 66053 in that it failed to handle
waste
in accordance with agreed site procedures
provided for in the site working plan.
Contrary to Section 33(6) of the Environmental
Protection Act 11000.
It also asked for a
third offence to be taken into consideration:
On or about 11 October
2006 it failed as the producer and/or disposer
of controlled waste,
namely drums contaminated with a hazardous
substance, to take all such measures as
were
applicable to it in that capacity as were
reasonable in the circumstances in that
(a) it failed
to prevent any contravention by any other
person of Section 33 of the Environmental
Protection
Act 11000, and/or (b) it failed to provide
an adequate written description of the said
waste.
Contrary to Section 34(1) and 34(6) of the
Environmental Protection Act 11000.
Past offences:
UKRM was previously
convicted of environmental offences:-
1) On 23 November 2006,
UKRM pleaded guilty at York Magistrates’
Court to depositing 26 tonnes of mixed liquid
wastes (zinc washings) on land at Dodsworth
Farm, Wheldrake on 6 October 2004 when no
waste management licence was in force, contrary
to Section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental
Protection Act 11000. It was fined £2,500
and costs.
2) On 14 November 2007, UKRM pleaded guilty
at Teesside Magistrates’ Court to two offences
under the Control of Substances Hazardous
to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2003 when
workers were cleaning out drums containing
a small chemical residue on 4 December 2006.
It was fined £2,000 on each offence
and costs.
3) On 27 February 2008,
UKRM pleaded guilty at Teesside Magistrates’
Court to breaching their duty of care in
that on 1 November 2006 9.52 tonnes of Potassium
Iodate tablets and contaminated cardboard
(hazardous waste) were deposited at Alab’s
site at Seaton Meadows Landfill, Hartlepool,
without an accurate written description,
contrary to Section 34(1)(c)(ii) of the
Environmental Protection Act 11000. A further
charge in connection with the same waste
was taken into consideration. The company
was fined £4,000 and costs.
4) On 20 April 2009,
UKRM pleaded guilty at Teesside Magistrates’
Court to two offences - (1) breaching duty
of care in that on 19 December 2006 28 tonnes
of mixed inks, paint, solvents and contaminated
rags (hazardous waste) were deposited at
Alab’s site at Seaton Meadows without an
accurate description, contrary to Section
34(1)(c)(ii) of the Environmental Protection
Act 11000, and (2) did keep controlled waste
(mixed inks, paint, solvents and contaminated
rags) on or before 19 December 2006 at their
site in Grangetown, Middlesbrough, other
than in accordance with its waste management
licence, contrary to Section 33(1)(b) of
the Environmental Protection Act 11000.
The company was fined (1) £3,200,
and (2) £16,000, and costs.
5) On 23 April 2009,
UKRM pleaded guilty at Leeds Magistrates’
Court to two offences - (1) on 14 February
2007 depositing controlled waste (industrial
waste sludge) on land at Arthington, Leeds,
other than in accordance with a waste management
licence, contrary to Section 33(1)(a) of
the Environmental Protection Act 11000,
and (2) breaching its duty of care in that
on 14 February 2007 the company failed to
take reasonable measures to prevent a contravention
by Nutramulch of Section 33, contrary to
Section 34(1)(a) of the Environment Protection
Act 11000. It was fined £25,000 for
(1) and costs, with no separate penalty
for (2
