Environmental Crimes

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency

2009-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency: "January 15, 2009- Building on its reputation for top environmental and criminal law scholarship, the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law will examine environmental crimes and how to discourage them. Environmental crime encompasses a huge swath of legal issues, which have confronted the judicial system for decades and will likely continue to hold a prominent place of public concern for decades to come."

Record seizures of animal goods

2009-01-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Record seizures of animal goods

Last Updated: January 15. 2009 9:30AM UAE / January 15. 2009 5:30AM GMT
Ivory accounted for the majority of wildlife items that Dubai Customs seized last year. Poachers cut up an elephant in the Bangui forest in the Central African Republic. Courtesy Karl Amman / AP
DUBAI // Customs officers last year seized a record number of elephant tusks, stuffed animals and other contraband from the international trade in endangered wildlife.
A total of 145 items were seized at Dubai airport and from searches of shipping containers last year, a 20 per cent increase on the 2007 total.
Last year’s haul included fur coats, stuffed crocodiles and a stuffed lion, with most of the confiscations being ivory.
The figures are only for seizures that led to criminal charges. No information was available on how many people were arrested or convicted

Seminar on legislation opens national environment week

2009-01-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

Luanda
Seminar on legislation opens national environment week
Luanda - The Environment Ministry will open on Monday the National Environment Week, whose official date will be marked on 31st January, with the holding of a lecture on Environment Legislation.
According to a programme of activities that ANGOP had access to, the forum will provide information about the decrees on evaluation of environment impact and licensing, as well as explain procedures related with the matter and future environment crimes.
The activity happens on 31st January under the topic “Safe Environment, Better Future”, with a seminar on management of solid residues, aimed at contributing to the definition of environment policies counting on the participation of local and foreign specialists.
On the 30th, a central act will take place with the organisation of a gala for the environment award dubbed Palanca Negra, where priority issues of the sector for 2009 are to be outlined.
Still as part of the activities, on January 31 it will be inaugurated the National Training School for game wardens in Catalangombe district, Kissama National Park, Bengo Province, as well as there will be a handover of some equipment.

Court Cancels EPA Clean Water Act Exemption for Pesticides

2009-01-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

Court Cancels EPA Clean Water Act Exemption for Pesticides: "CINCINNATI, Ohio, January 7, 2009 (ENS) - Environmental groups today celebrated their victory as an appeals court vacated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that has allowed pesticides to be applied to U.S. waters without a Clean Water Act permit.
On November 27, 2007, the EPA issued the final rule, which states that pesticides applied in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, are exempt from the Clean Water Act's permitting requirements.
The Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waters by, among other things, requiring entities that emit pollutants to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NPDES, permit.
For nearly 30 years before adoption of the rule, pesticide labels issued under the FIFRA were required to contain a notice stating that the pesticide could not be 'discharged into lakes, streams, ponds, or public waters unless in accordance with an NPDES permit.'
Two different groups of petitioners, one representing environmental interest groups and the other representing industry interest groups, for different reasons opposed the rule as exceeding the EPA's interpretive authority.
The EPA defends the rule by arguing that the terms of the Clean Water Act are ambiguous and that the rule is a reasonable construction of the Clean Water Act.
In their decision, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, 'We cannot agree. The Clean Water Act is not ambiguous. Therefore, we hold that the EPA's Final Rule is not a reasonable interpretation of the Act and vacate the Final Rule.'"

This week's take: Protect the environment even in hard times (www.HometownGlenBurnie.com - The Maryland Gazette)

2009-01-08T02:48:00.000-08:00

This week's take: Protect the environment even in hard times (www.HometownGlenBurnie.com - The Maryland Gazette): "With the worldwide focus on economic hardship, it is likely that we will face even greater challenges protecting our waterways from indifference and neglect.
As funding dwindles and the public focus shifts to financial concerns, we will need to remind ourselves that conserving the environment is not an optional activity, reserved for when money is plentiful.
Conservation is an imperative that helps protect the remaining wealth and value in our society that ought to be a legacy shared by all.
Conserving the environment is an investment against future scarcity. We add value and wealth to our communities by protecting robust forests, clean water, abundant fisheries and swimmable beaches.
Saving land, water and open space, while using proper management and safeguards to protect the environment, can sustain us all in prosperity and hedge against a poor economy."

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Dylan Roberts: Be proud, Colorado

2009-01-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Dylan Roberts: Be proud, Colorado: "Steamboat Springs — With Inauguration Day two weeks away, President-elect Obama’s cabinet positions nearly are filled. There has been criticism from both sides of the aisle. Where is the “change” among the many Clinton-era personnel? Why are there only two GOP cabinet designates? With any presidential transition, there will be unavoidable scrutiny, and the truth is, we cannot judge any of these appointments until they actually begin their work. However, there is one selection that deserves praise: our Senator, Ken Salazar, for Interior Secretary.
No matter your political leaning, it is hard to disagree that Ken Salazar is the ideal person to head a department of our national government that undoubtedly will play a crucial role in revitalizing our economy, protecting our fleeting natural lands and weaning us from dependence on foreign energy. Ken Salazar was not selected by Barack Obama for this position because he looks the part, though the cowboy hat and bolo tie certainly are a convincing touch. He was not selected because the position needs to be filled by a Western official (i.e. Gale Norton, Colorado native and Bush’s first Interior Secretary). Obama poached Salazar from the Senate because he knows he has the experience and knowledge of the challenges he will face every day, as well as the passion to make the vital decisions that will face the Department of the Interior in the coming years."

UK establishes environmental risk centre - ClimateChangeCorp.com

2008-12-31T14:33:00.000-08:00

UK establishes environmental risk centre - ClimateChangeCorp.com: "UK establishes environmental risk centre
31 Dec 2008 | Author: Jeanette Wiemers, newsbriefs editor | Print version | Send to a friend
Centre will measure impacts of climate risks, to help shape Defra policy
Government and research councils in the UK—along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)—have established the Centre of Excellence in Understanding and Managing Natural and Environmental Risk as part of the new Living With Environmental Change programme. The centre will work to assess the impacts of climate change risks, and providing the improved information to Defra to help them develop policy."

Ethical Corporation: Politics - Environmental crimes – A walk on the wild side

2008-12-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ethical Corporation: Politics - Environmental crimes – A walk on the wild side: "Political will is the biggest obstacle to halting the illegal trade in plant and animal products that hurts society as much as the environment, according to a new report

To many, the expression environmental crime conjures up images of fly-tipping or similar local but small-scale practices; annoying but ultimately not very important. But environmental crime in the sense of illegal trade in wildlife and destruction of the natural world is both a serious global problem and one whose impacts go beyond the environmental concerns to affect wider society.

In its new report – Environmental Crimes, A threat to our Future – the Environmental Investigation Agency, a London-based campaign group, provides well-documented examples of environmental crimes around the world, argues why this matters, and sets out models of enforcement that could be used more widely to tackle the problem.

EIA argues that what it calls “international environmental crime” can be divided into five categories of offence, recognised by international bodies such as the G8, Interpol, the EU, the UN Environment Programme and the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute."

Environment crimes directive enters into force

2008-12-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

Environment crimes directive enters into force: "The arrival of a law that makes serious and life-threatening pollution a crime marks the end of a long battle between the EU institutions.
Discharging poisonous substances into the air, dumping toxic waste and trading in protected birds or animals, come one step closer to being criminal offences across the EU today (26 December), as a law on environmental crimes comes into force.
From today the EU's 27 member states will have two years to come up with “effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties” against people responsible for pollution that causes death, serious injury or major damage to the environment. Companies will be held liable for acts committed by people they employ.
The directive's passage into the EU's rule book marks the end of a long battle between the European Commission and national governments over their legal powers. The Commission proposed a directive in 2001, but the Council of Ministers opted to adopt a less demanding “framework decision” in 2003. But Europe's highest court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), tore up this framework decision in 2005 and declared that the Commission had the power to set environmental crimes.
The Commission made a new proposal in 2007, calling for a maximum of five years imprisonment for individuals and fines of at least €750,000 against companies for the most serious offences. But the ECJ ruled that the Commission had no competence on prison sentences or fines, leaving it up to member states to decide on sanctions."

Essroc is victim of one big litter bug -- themorningcall.com

2008-12-31T14:22:00.000-08:00

Essroc is victim of one big litter bug -- themorningcall.com: "The state Department of Environmental Protection, along with the state attorney general's office, are investigating the illegal dumping, which took place at the Essroc plant on Route 248 earlier this month.

''This is material that should have gone to a landfill,'' said DEP spokesman Mark Carmon. He noted there are three area facilities that accept demolition waste: Grand Central in Plainfield Township, Chrin in Williams Township and IESI in Lower Saucon Township"

Environmental crime on the rise as Nema forms police unit

2008-11-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

The National Environment Management Authority wants to create an Environmental Police unit to clamp down on the escalating environmental crime.

“We are looking at forming an environmental police within Nema. A cabinet paper to that effect is in the offing,” Nema legal Counsel Jessica Naiga said during the launch of a report on environmental crime in Kampala yesterday. “The unit will address environmental crimes, investigations and prosecution.”
Ms Naiga expects the unit to be operational next financial year.

According to the report entitled, ‘The Nature and Extent of Environmental Crime in Uganda’, illegal waste disposal, pollution, discharge of effluents into lakes, illegal fishing, illegal hunting, dumping and encroachment on protected areas lead to environmental degradation.

The study commissioned by the Institute of Security Studies based in South Africa, under the Environmental Crime Project was carried out in September. The report says various behaviours by people and organisations that are threatening the environment are increasing in Uganda, leading to more degradation.

“Due to desires to increase productivity, rural populations have encroached on nature reserves, reclaimed wetlands, invaded wildlife protected areas and practiced criminal acts for harvesting such as illegal logging, illegal fishing including poisoning,” the report says.

Presenting the research findings, Mr Shuaib Lwasa, the researcher, said while Uganda has put in place organisations like Nema and the National Forestry Authority among others, environmental crimes are increasing.

Ms Naiga said people are aware of environmental crimes although they are not compliant. “We (Nema) have done good work as far as awareness is concerned but people have a poor compliance culture,” she said.

She said Nema has prepared charge sheets covering all environmental crimes to ease the work of courts. The study documents vices such as illegal dumping of motor vehicle scrap and release of pollutants into lakes by commercial flower establishments and tobacco firms among others.

“For example, it is estimated that Lake Victoria receives 23,550 tons of biological oxygen demand (BOD) substances per year, 1555,580 tons of nitrogen (in form of fertilisers) per year and 32,050 tons of phosphorous per year,” the report says.
The high BOD specifies the strength of sewerage disposed off in the lake which is a nutrient of algae, which if can choke the lake.

When is crime not a crime

2008-05-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

The Post of Wednesday, May 28, 2008 regarding the using criminal law to protect the environment indicates unfortunately that we still have a long way to go to protect the environment from behaviour that ultimately can destroy our world. From more on this debate please visit our web site http://environmentcrimes.com.

2008-05-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

After a marathon six-hour meeting at the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, the vote on the Clean Air Act was once again delayed.

This was the 16th such meeting in the process of readying the bill for second and third readings. The 17th meeting was urgently called for Thursday.

The bill failed to come to a vote on Tuesday because of a dispute between the Finance Ministry and the Environmental Protection Ministry over additional manpower needed to enforce the law. In addition, despite the six hours of debate, some of the provisions had yet to be discussed in the committee.

Committee head Ophir Paz-Pines opened the discussion with a blistering condemnation of the government for taking more than the allotted 45 days to respond to the committee and then placing a new copy of the entire bill on the committee's desk the day before the session.

"This is serious and incomprehensible behavior. The government's version got to the committee the day before the debate, which prevented us from distributing it to all the relevant parties and then discussing the changes thoroughly," Paz-Pines declared.

"I hope the government is not attempting to scuttle the bill through technicalities," he went on angrily. "Now it appears that you [the government] took the time allotted to you to reinterpret the entire bill despite the fact that agreements had already been reached regarding the lion's share of the bill. Which basically means the government is asking to discuss the bill from the beginning - something that will never happen. We did not debate this bill for three years for nothing."

From discussions between Paz-Pines and Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra, which Paz-Pines shared with the committee, it emerged that 30 more positions would be needed in the ministry to enforce the law. The Treasury has objected to the request because it comes mid-year rather than during the debate over the budget for the following year.

However, Gabi Golan, representing the Prime Minister's Office, told the committee, "I believe that we will come to an agreement regarding additional manpower this Sunday during a meeting with the Environmental Protection Ministry's director-general."

The Justice Ministry also objected to characterizing infractions of environmental laws as violations of the criminal code.

Categorizing them as such would raise the penalty for such crimes in some instances to more than three years behind bars. Justice Ministry representative Roni Talmor told the committee that "environmental violations are economic-technical ones and not crimes against the establishment."

However, Paz-Pines decided that severe violations should be considered crimes under the criminal code, "which would be an expression of the public norm" in the matter.

Material Handling Magazine, Forklift Trucks, Warehouse, RFID, Logistics and Transport News

2008-05-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Crime a waste of time as Selby man pays the price
York Crown Court has confiscated £57,995 from a Selby man in the one of the largest proceeds-of-crime cases involving environmental offences.

Cornelius Opey Price, aged 39 of Glebelands, Kellingley, Selby was prosecuted by the Serious Organised Crime Agency on behalf of the Environment Agency for depositing, treating, disposing and keeping waste without the benefit of a waste management licence. He was given a nine month sentence last November for each of the four offences, serving half this time.

The confiscation order was calculated on how much profit Mr Price made in committing these crimes.

Mr Price was also ordered to pay full costs of £14,148.13 to the Environment Agency and £4,982.55 to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. All payments must be made within six months or a 19 months prison sentence in default.

Mr Price ran C Price Skip Hire using land at Meadow View off Weeland Road, Kellingley.

He operated an illegal waste transfer station at the site, which the public, other legitimate operators and local authorities made complaints about. The Environment Agency decided to investigate the site in October 2005, and in May 2006, after repeated warnings to Mr Price, and further complaints about activities there, officers started a surveillance operation."

Aust's ecological footprint one of biggest in world: index - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

2008-05-26T02:21:00.000-07:00

Aust's ecological footprint one of biggest in world: index - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "The annual Climate Living Index, which measures humanity's demand on natural resources, has listed Australia's ecological footprint as one of the biggest in the world.
The United States has taken the lead position as the largest consumer of natural resources on the planet, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Canada, Kuwait then Australia.
Ray Nias from WWF which commissioned the report says this is translating to an increasing loss of species.
'Some of the indices we're seeing show very steep declines in biodiversity in terms of freshwater fish for example, but across the board, birds, mammals, reptiles,' he said.
On a global scale, this report has found that 1.4 billion people are already living in water stressed areas.
By 2050, it estimates that up to 3 billion more will face increased water shortages."

Pulp mill up to Gunns and banks: new Premier - National - smh.com.au

2008-05-26T02:03:00.000-07:00

Pulp mill up to Gunns and banks: new Premier - National - smh.com.au: "The new Tasmanian Premier, David Bartlett, today said the future of the state's key project, the Gunns pulp mill, was in the hands of its proponents and their financiers.
His predecessor, Paul Lennon, tied his political fortunes closely to the mill, which appears to have failed to gain the backing of the ANZ Bank.
'I haven't seen a proposal for public infrastructure,' Mr Bartlett said.
'Cabinet will consider it on its merits. But largely, or in fact totally, this project will stand and fall on whether or not the company is able to get finances for this project.'"

And the Battle continues!!

2008-05-23T05:08:00.001-07:00

Marina Silva will never forget the day the bulldozers rolled up on her family's doorstep. It was the beginning of the 1970s and in the isolated Amazon community of Bagaço, where she was born, Silva, then about 12, looked on curiously as work began on a major highway to link the Brazilian rainforest with the rest of the country. Shortly afterwards, her relatives began to die. First two younger sisters, then her uncle and finally her cousin: all victims of a malaria epidemic imported by the road builders.

"I don't know if I was conscious that the road was bringing all that, but it made me write on my own flesh the consequences of what it meant to mess around with nature without giving the slightest attention to the need to look after it," she remembers.

Fast-forward to January 2003. Following the historic election of Brazil's first working-class president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Marina Silva was named the environment minister of South America's largest country, thrusting this former rubber tapper, who was virtually illiterate until her teens, on to the front line of Brazil's battle against deforestation - and of the global fight against climate change. Environmental groups rejoiced at her nomination. She was a woman from the forest, who understood the dangers inherent in destroying it.

Last Tuesday, however, the fairytale came to an abrupt end. After just over five years as environment minister, Silva resigned following a succession of acrimonious disputes with fellow ministers and businessmen who accused her of stalling major development projects in the Amazon and hindering the Brazilian economy. In her short resignation letter, Silva cited "the growing resistance found by our team in important sectors of the government and society"

ireland.com - Breaking News - EU backs 'watered-down' green law

2008-05-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

ireland.com - Breaking News - EU backs 'watered-down' green law: "EU backs 'watered-down' green law
European Union lawmakers backed a watered-down law on 'green crime' today that would make dumping toxic waste or illegally transporting hazardous materials a criminal offence throughout the bloc.
The draft law obliges the EU's 27 member states to treat and punish as criminal acts a list of nine offences ranging from harming protected plants or species to unlawful trade in ozone-depleting substances.

But it does not set EU-wide sanctions to the dismay of environmentalists who doubt it will have much impact.

'It is not as strong as we would have like to see it ... it does not lead to the harmonisation of criminal law that would have helped prevent environment crimes,' said Regina Schneider, from the European Environmental Bureau, a federation of more than 140 non-governmental environmental organisations.

'It is first step in right direction but no more,' she said.

EU ambassadors are set to give the final green light to the text on Wednesday, EU officials said, on the same day as the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on it, after backing it in a parliamentary debate today.

The European Commission had originally proposed at least sentences of between 5 and 10 years in jail for environmental crimes that killed or seriously injured people, and fines of more than €1 million euros for companies involved."

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation:

2008-05-21T03:17:00.000-07:00

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation:: "Senior magistrates and judges from all over the country have are attending a two-day workshop in Tsavo West National Park on environmental crimes and sentencing.
They are discussing past rulings on environmental crime cases as well as the factors courts need to consider in determining appropriate sentences.
Opening the workshop, Forestry and Wildlife Minister Hon Noah Wekesa said government agencies dealing with the environment like the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Forest Service spend a lot of resources investigating, apprehending and prosecuting offenders 'but sometimes the court in its wisdom gives very lenient penalties or sentences. The offenders, thus, come out feeling nothing.'
The minister noted that such lenient rulings 'eventually affect the way our officers perform duties' and called on the Judiciary to make rulings that 'enhance sustainable development and act as deterrent to violators of the law'."

2008-05-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

In the small town of Paragominas, in the Brazilian state of Para, watching operation Arc of Fire can be an impressive sight. This is the front line in the battle to contain deforestation - police and environmental officials setting off in a convoy of vehicles, with armed soldiers from the national security force for added protection. The precautions are not unjustified - on a recent operation in the nearby town of Tailandia, residents angered by Arc of Fire and its impact on local firms clashed violently with police. In Paragominas, bemused local people watch as the police cars, with flashing lights and sirens blaring, make their way out of town en route to a local logging firm three to four hours away. These officials want to know if the wood there has been legally cut down, and if the owner has the paperwork to prove it. Illegal ovens When the convoy reaches the logging firm, the owner is not there, as is often the case, but officials begin checking the wood to see if the law has been broken. If the owner cannot explain the presence of all the logs in his yard, it could be seized and he may face a significant fine. A short distance away, police cars stop at a site where row after row of open air ovens are being used to burn wood for charcoal.
Checks reveal that more than the permitted number of dome-shaped ovens has been built, so two are destroyed on the same day. This operation on the ground in the Amazon has been continuing for two months, and police chief, Sergio Rovani, who is responsible for tackling environmental crimes in Para, insists it is getting results. According to the official statistics, Arc of Fire has recovered enough illegal wood to fill 1500 trucks, and 1600 hundred charcoal furnaces have been destroyed. Many fines have also been imposed.

Illegal dumping a costly problem in Austin area

2008-05-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

Illegal dumping a costly problem in Austin area: "Pizza delivery boxes are not the standard smoking gun in a criminal investigation. But when you're one of three investigators for all of Travis County digging up environmental crimes of illegal trash dumping, you take what you can get.
Fishing out pizza boxes along with letters and receipts from the bottom of a trash pile and dusting for fingerprints on paint cans are among the tricks to cracking a case of illegal dumping. For all of its green glory, Austin and Travis County have waterways whose banks are littered with trash, much of it dumped intentionally out of sight, some of it just the accumulation of litter washed into the region's many watersheds.
Dumping has environmental consequences beyond being unsightly: A gallon of spilled motor oil can make as many as 1 million gallons of water undrinkable. Plastic bags can suffocate fish. Tossed batteries and computers contain heavy metals that can kill wildlife. Even dumping organic material such as leaves and grass cuttings can disrupt the amount of dissolved oxygen in waterways.
The county says it filed 74 criminal investigative environmental cases last year, many of them for illegal dumping, and the City of Austin says it collects more than 200 tons of trash from Lady Bird Lake each year, much of it litter washed in from the urban creeks that feed the Colorado River.
The situation isn't much better in the wider river basin. According to a 2006 report, the Lower Colorado River Authority has spotted at least 320 dump sites along the Colorado River, spanning from the Highland Lakes down to Matagorda Bay. The LCRA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and other governmental agencies spent $373,935 from 2002 to 2007 to map the sites and start a public education effort to cut the dumping."

Environmental crimes could become a criminal offence - NEW EUROPE - The European News Source

2008-05-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Environmental crimes could become a criminal offence - NEW EUROPE - The European News Source: "Seriously damaging the environment should be made a criminal offence in all EU Member States, so as to ensure that EU legislation is properly enforced, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee said in a report it approved, on a proposed EU directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. MEPs in the committee agreed that, in principle, governments should apply criminal measures to punish any illegal behaviour likely to seriously injure people or damage air, soil, waters, plants and animals, when committed intentionally or with serious negligence.
The report, by Hartmut Nassauer of Germany, was approved by a small majority, by a vote of 15-11, with two abstentions. Nassauer said: “We are on the way to a first reading agreement with the Council; today’s good result will allow us to achieve that.” The report’s aim is to ensure that all Member States treat as criminal offences a series of acts that cause damage to the environment. If in an EU Member State one of the acts listed in the report is currently subject only to civil sanctions (such as a fine), then the entry into force of this legislation would oblige national government to apply “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” criminal penalties to that specific case."

Muncie man pleads guilty to environmental crimes -- -- chicagotribune.com

2008-05-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

A businessman has been sentenced to a year of community detention for abandoning two semitrailers loaded with drums of hazardous waste on someone else's property.

Richard D. Reece, 68, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to three federal counts of unlawful transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste.

'The defendant simply abandoned dangerous chemicals and walked away, rather than disposing of them safely and legally,' said Acting Special Agent in Charge Randall Ashe of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal enforcement office in Chicago.

In 2004, emergency crews discovered two abandoned semitrailers loaded with about 120 drums and other containers after Muncie residents complained of chemical odors in an industrial area."

Building contractor sentenced to jail for environmental harm - EPA/QPWS

2008-05-08T05:36:00.000-07:00

A Brisbane building contractor was today convicted and sentenced to three months’ jail, suspended for two years, for releasing contaminated water from the Binary factory site in the Narangba Industrial Estate in August 2006.
Desmond Rubach, 74, of Morayfield, pleaded guilty in the Caboolture Magistrates Court to one charge of wilfully and unlawfully causing material environmental harm.
Mr Rubach was sentenced to three months’ jail wholly suspended for two years by Magistrate Trevor Allingham. A conviction was recorded and Mr Rubach was also ordered to pay $4850.70 in investigation and legal costs.
The EPA charged Mr Rubach with the offence after he cut through a retaining wall on the Binary factory site on 31 August 2006, releasing contaminated stormwater on to the State Government’s Binary cleanup site.
The EPA told the court that Mr Rubach carried out this action contrary to instructions from the site owners to pump the contaminated stormwater in to an on-site dam, and despite knowing that the stormwater would be contaminated with herbicides and pesticides."

Firm boss must pay or face jail for waste crime - icWales

2008-05-08T02:18:00.000-07:00

The boss of a firm in the UK that crushed thousands of tonnes of waste without permission has been convicted – and had the proceeds of the crime confiscated – in a groundbreaking case.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Public Health and Protection Officers are the first in Wales to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the money paid to the firm during its illegal operation.
The ruling means that not only has the offender been dealt with for the environmental crime, but he faces prison if he fails to pay back the £10,000 he was paid for the job.
Allan Davies, Director of Allan Davies Screen Crusher Repairs Ltd appeared before Newport Crown Court charged with breaching the Pollution Prevention Control Regulations of 2000.
The court heard how, between March 31 and May 18 last year, the firm crushed 3,000 tonnes of limestone in a 40-ton mobile crushing unit, without a permit to do so from the council.
It was explained that large-scale crushing activity can, if not controlled properly, cause significant harm to the environment and people’s health by emitting large amounts of dust into the air."