23.07.2009

£10,000 Fine and £8,000 Costs for Failure to Comply with an Environmental Permit

Mr Stephen Othen and Mr Brian Wade, the managers and partners of Southern Rubber Products in Chichester, were each fined £10,000 and ordered to pay total costs of £8,186 for failing to comply with conditions on an Environmental Permit.

Southern Rubber is a transfer station for the treatment of waste tyres and the business was issued with an Environmental Permit in 2007 so that it could operate within the regulations. Two key conditions of the license were that the building and external area of the site were bunded to prevent any contaminated water runoff from the site entering the Pagham Rife, and also that designs and proposed operation for a sprinkler system were submitted.

Despite numerous attempts to work with Southern Rubber in order for it to comply with the regulations, the company directors failed to cooperate with the Environment Agency. The fine was based on the potential impact on the local environment as the site drainage runs into the Pagham Rife, which then feeds into a highly protected conservation area nearby.