£8,000 fine over toxic waste

AN Oldham company has been fined £8,000 for its role in the illegal handling, storage and export of hazardous waste.

Empress Green Trading Company, of Woods Lane, Dobcross, admitted a charge of depositing controlled waste without a permit and one of exporting prohibited waste.

The Environment agency discovered the actions of Empress and another business, Chemson Ltd of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, also sentenced at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Following complaints of dead fish in a pond fed by the River Ryburn near Halifax in 2009, the Environment Agency found hazardous waste being stored without the proper permits at a local garage.

An investigation resulted in the site’s operators being sentenced last month for illegal waste activities. These case concerned those involved in the trade that resulted in the hazardous waste being deposited at the site.

A large number of bags labelled “toxic”, “harmful to the aquatic environment” and “soluble lead compound” waste, deposited by Chemson, were found - some of it illegally bound for Pakistan.

Chemson, which admitted depositing controlled waste without a permit, was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in legal costs.

Empress Green was fined £8,000 with £7,000 costs, while Empress director Joanna Potts, who admitted a charge of depositing controlled waste without a permit, and one of exporting prohibited waste, was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,500 in costs. Chemson had arranged for its waste to be sent to Crystal Recycling in a deal brokered by Potts.