Court of Appeal court slashes fine imposed on Thames Water by 60%

Castle Cement has been fined £250,000 and ordered to pay almost £55,000 in costs by Mold Crown Court for breaching the conditions of the permit for its cement works at Padeswood in North Wales. The total in fines and costs is one of the highest ever for an environmental offence in the UK, and the biggest imposed for pollution prevention and control offences.

The company pleaded guilty to four offences, covering the period August 2005 to July 2007. Three of the four relate to its failure to comply with various conditions of the site’s environmental permit and one to its failure to comply with an enforcement notice. It also asked for a further offence, which took place in October 2009 and involved the escape from a broken pipe of 250 tonnes of dust, to be taken into account.

Judge Rogers said: “These were persistent breaches of the permit conditions, resulting in dust emissions, smoke emissions from burning tyres and other materials, and unacceptable noise levels.”

The court fined the firm, which was rebranded Hanson Cement in 2009, £100,000 for failing to maintain plant and equipment in good operating condition. Three offences – breaching the limits on dust emissions, non-compliance with an enforcement notice issued by the Environment Agency (EA) Wales and failing to control excessive noise and vibration – each attracted a £50,000 penalty. The company was fined a further £54,649.88 for the other offence.

“These specific incidents could have been avoided if the company had complied with its permit and the notices we served. They did not, and people and the environment were affected as a result,” said Dave Edwell, northern area manager for the EA Wales.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has reduced the fine levied on Thames Water in January 2009 by 60% (www.lexisurl.com/EiB395). Croydon Crown Court fined Thames Water £125,000 and ordered the firm to pay £21,335 in clean-up and investigation costs after it allowed industrial-strength chlorine from its Beddington Sewage Treatment Works to enter the River Wandle, a tributary of the Thames. The appeal judges reduced the fine because Thames Water had voluntarily paid £500,000 compensation to restore the river and fund environmental improvement projects.

Justice Sweeney described the original fine as “manifestly excessive”, and said: “In our view, there is a clear policy need in cases of this type to encourage the making of voluntary reparation by offenders.”

The EA expressed its disappointment at the decision. “In serious pollution incidents such as this, we would still like to see higher fines in addition to any action taken by the offending company, to provide a stronger deterrent to polluters,” said chief executive Paul Leinster. The agency had criticised the size of the original fine, saying that it represented less than 0.1% of the company’s annual turnover in 2008.