West Brom firm to pay more than £120k after illegally dumping waste into sewer system
It is the third time in seven years the company has been prosecuted for this type of offence.
A firm in the Black Country has been fined £43,750 with £80,000 costs for illegally dumping waste including potentially harmful chemicals into the sewer system.
It is the third time in seven years that Arrow Environmental Services Limited, based at Kelvin Way, West Bromwich, has been convicted of this type of offence.
The latest case, heard at Wolverhampton Crown Court, brought the price paid for its repeated mistakes to around £200,000.
The court heard that on this occasion a broken membrane caused the filtration plant at the works to fail early in the morning, releasing up to three tons of waste into the sewer system.
A ‘slam shut’ valve installed to prevent this happening was not deployed immediately because the person monitoring the situation was away from his post on other duties for three quarters of an hour, the court was told.
Deterrent
Mr James Jesic, managing director of production for Severn Trent said afterwards: “Although we are very happy with the outcome, rather than having to take action in court, we would much prefer to work together with businesses to prevent any breaches occurring in the first place.
"We hope that these fines will serve as a deterrent to other firms.”
He continued: “Our customers pay for damage to the sewer network and the treatment works, so it is important that we prosecute offenders in appropriate cases and take action to recover costs where possible.
“Arrow Environmental Services Limited is advertised as a specialist waste disposal company, whose customers include, according to their website, ‘public sector organisations and local Government, through to some of the UK’s best known brand names, which include the construction and demolition industry.’
“We brought this case to drive home to both the company and their customers, their responsibilities. It was the latest in a string of prosecutions and convictions for not legally disposing of their waste.
“The judge found that they had failed to keep promises to both us and the Environment Agency to invest in their plant and had deliberately failed to put in place systems that should have been there to avoid the offences. They have prioritised cost over compliance with their environmental responsibilities.”
Mr Mike Atkins, defending the company, told an earlier court hearing: “This is a long way from a trader illegally discharging waste into a river resulting in fish kill.
“It is not that sort of case at all.”
The firm was convicted of discharging trade effluent without consent or authorisation.
