Environment Law Update: Liability in environment law 2

United Kingdom

Discoloured water

Yorkshire Water have been fined GBP119,000 and ordered to pay GBP125,598 costs after the company admitted four incidents of supplying water unfit for human consumption. The ruling followed lengthy legal arguments in the Magistrates' Court, the High Court and the Crown Court relating to the supply of discoloured water during 1998. The charges were brought under Section 70 of the Water Industry Act 1991. The company plan to appeal against the ruling of the meaning of 'water unfit for human consumption' which is not defined under the Act. The DWI's opinion is that it is a matter for the courts to decide on a case by case basis. The company was given four months to pay the fine, with prosecution costs stayed pending the appeal. To date, there have been 21 other cases for which water companies have either pleaded, or been found guilty of supplying discoloured water.
(DETR Press Release, 8 December 2000)

Importation of illegal waste

In the first prosecution under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994 (SI 1994 No 137) in England or Wales, the Stockport company Stirling Lloyd Contracts Ltd, was fined GBP1,500 by magistrates for illegally bringing hazardous waste into the UK. The company was also ordered to pay GBP4,594 costs to the EA, which brought the prosecution. The offence contravened regulations which require documentation in the form of a Transfrontier Shipment note to show when the waste was moved, when and where it arrived and whether it was disposed of or recovered in an environmentally-sound manner. When completed, the document has to be sent to the EA. The system is designed to ensure hazardous waste moved between countries is not lost or abandoned during its journey.
(EA News Release, 17 November 2000)

European Union

EU member states are close to agreeing a convention that will ensure that legal decisions made in one member state are recognised in another. The move follows intense lobbying by the UK after a Swedish and an Austrian company were fined a total of more than GBP1.5 million for two separate incidents involving breaches of health and safety laws in the UK, but avoided paying as the courts could not enforce the fines. The planned convention could be ratified in 2002 with implementation in 2004.
(Independent on Sunday, 3 December 2000)