Raymond Hake, a demolition contractor, has
been found guilty of dumping pesticides resulting in £560,000 in clean up
costs, to the authorities. On 26 July 1996, he was ordered to do 200 hours
community service and fined a mere £1,500.
In August 1995, several waste drums of lindane and mercury
seed dressings were emptied into a drain on a disused seed mill in Somerton,
Somerset, which was in the process of being demolished (see PN30 p3). The
resulting pollution of the Mill Stream (which runs into the river Cary) killed
fish and other river life, and turned the water pink. Mr Hake of Taunton,
Somerset, was found guilty at Yeovil magistrates court of causing pollution
under the Water Resources Act 1991.
Dr David Slater, director of pollution prevention at the
Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution, was quoted in The Times:
"This was a devastating pollution incident that destroyed a river, but the
worst aspect of this case was that it was entirely avoidable." On top of the
clean-up costs, the Environment Agency met the £20,600 cost of investigating
the incident and bringing the prosecution. The Agency is still considering
whether to remove contaminated sediments from the stream at a further cost
of about £100,000.
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Lindane incident hits the headlines Autumn 1995 |
Comment
It is clear that Yeovil Magistrates, who sentenced Mr
Hake, let him off lightly as the maximum sentence for the offence was a fine of
up to £20,000 and six months in jail. The findings of the magistrates give a
clear signal to potential polluters that such actions will not be punished
severely. However, the case may not yet be fully closed as a charge against the
site owner has yet to come to court.
Both lindane and mercury had the potential to cause serious
damage to wildlife and the general public living close to the seed mill. Lindane
is now banned or severely restricted in 37 countries. A Pesticides Trust [now
PAN UK] fact
sheet on lindane in 1995 (see PN28 p29) said: "the use of lindane should be
withdrawn from the market as a precaution to avoid further health and
environment problems." We also wrote to the Agriculture minister arguing
for statutory registration of stores, without success.
The Times 27 July 1996, Ends, July 1996, No. 258.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 33, September 1996,
page 8]