New publications this month:

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

M1 sampling requirements for stack emission monitoring

What has been updated?

The health and safety information in this document has been updated.

Background

This technical guidance note on sampling for monitoring stack emissions to air provides guidance to Environment Agency staff, monitoring contractors and industry. It supports the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS) and Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA).

Waste duty of care code of practice

This code provides practical guidance on how to meet your waste duty of care requirements. It applies to you if you produce, carry, keep, dispose of, treat, import or have control of waste in England or Wales.

Hazardous waste: consignee returns guidance (England)

What has been updated?

From 1 April 2016, premises will no longer need to register as hazardous waste producers.

Background

This document provides guidance on how to send returns to the Environment Agency and producer if you receive or dispose of hazardous waste.

Low risk waste: activities where no permit is required

What has been updated?

The list of low risk activities not requiring a permit has been updated.

SR2014 no 2: The management of extractive waste

This document provides the “Standard Rule” guidance and generic risk assessment for the management of extractive waste and covers waste generated from onshore oil and gas prospecting activities. The standard rules do not cover a waste management facility, waste generated by well stimulation of any type, including hydraulic fracturing and /or hydrocarbon extraction and/or production (including appraisal and extended well testing).

This standard rule has been updated in March 2016 and is now reflected in this guidance.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, DEFRA AND NATURAL ENGLAND

Prevent Japanese knotweed from spreading

This document provides guidance on how to identify, control and dispose of Japanese knotweed.

HM TREASURY

Public sector annual reports: sustainability reporting guidance 2015 to 2016

The purpose of this guidance is to assist with the completion of sustainability reports in the public sector. It sets out the minimum requirements, some best practice guidance and the underlying principles to be adopted in preparing the information.

Offences this month:

Waste operator breaches planning and environmental rules

A waste operator has been sentencds to 15 months imprisonment for running an illegal waste site in Norfolk. He ran the site for more than a year without planning permission and without an environmental permit to deposit, store, dispose and treat waste.

Norfolk County Council served an enforcement notice on Fuller requiring him to stop taking waste onto the land and processing the waste. This was ignored and Mark Edward Fuller (the waste operator) failed to respond to advice and continued to operate illegally.

County Council officer Mike Adams said:

‘This is a case that has stretched the powers of planning enforcement to the limit. The defendant refused to engage with the planning system; appeals, including High Court challenges with very little merit were designed to frustrate the enforcement procedure and have lengthened and increased the cost of this process’

Fuller pleaded guilty to:

• Failure to comply with an enforcement notice on two accounts requiring the discontinuance of a use of land which breached section 179(4) and (5) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

• Operating a regulated facility for the deposit, storage, treatment and disposal of waste without there being in force, and without being authorised by, an environmental permit. This breached regulation 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Brewery fined £100,000 after water polluting incident

Molson Coors Brewery (UK) Limited (MCB Ltd) have been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £31,586.49 at Basingstoke Magistrates Court for polluting the River Wey.

There had been gutters on the building known as the “boiler room” located next to a trade effluent chamber that ran directly to the Lasham Drain. The gutters had been removed when the building had been extended. When the alterations were made the contractors had used a liner which did not seal the chamber to divert the trade effluent, resulting in not completely blocking the existing pipe and pathway to the Lasham Drain.

The brewery failed to respond to the regular monitoring and visual inspections that they were obliged to carry out as a requirement of their permit issued by the Environment Agency. This monitoring clearly indicated that there was a serious problem in the Lasham Drain but MCB Ltd failed to act upon this information.

MCB Ltd pleaded guilty to 2 offences: causing a water discharge activity and breaching the condition of its environmental permit with respect to monitoring the Lasham Drain for fungus.

£8800 penalty for operation of an illegal waste site

Sam Phelps, who ran two si‘XP Wood Recycling’, pleaded guilty to 2 charges of deliberately operating illegal waste sites. He was fined £400 for each offence, ordered to pay a contribution to the prosecution costs of £8,000, along with the victim surcharge of £40.

He ran the sites without environmental permits, avoiding permitting fees of £13,489 and also received an estimated profit from his illegal operations in excess of £40,000.

Environment Agency officers estimated the waste wood pile found on the site was between 3500-4000 tonnes; 3000 tonnes more than the amount allowed under the registered exemption.

The waste had not been turned or separated to create fire breaks, despite Mr Phelps being asked to do so to reduce the risk of fire. No measures were in place to prevent water run-off from the storage areas impacting upon nearby watercourses.

Mr Phelps admitted that he knew he needed an environmental permit. He was aware that the exemptions he held had limits on the amounts of wood allowed to be stored but couldn’t remember what they were.