Environmental Update (June 2009)
Plant Hire Business Admits Oil Spill
A national plant hire company has been fined £12,000 for a
diesel oil leak which polluted a local river and one of its
tributaries in October 2008. The company also admitted breaching
Oil Storage Regulations.
The leak occurred on one of the companies sites as thieves who
were attempting to steal fuel had disconnected a hose from a diesel
tank in the yard which resulted in between 3,000 to 4,000 litres of
oil flowing into the yard and then into surface water drains and
down onto a main road.
The tank was not protected by a bund, which would have been
capable of containing the entire contents of the tank. Although the
company reacted quickly to contain the residue of the spillage,
organised and paid for specialist contractors to carry out an
extensive clean-up operation, it was found to have no formal
written procedures about the security of the tank and the failure
to create a bund was described as a 'regrettable oversight'. It
also admitted that other non-compliant diesel tanks had been
discovered and rectified at other sites.
The Company was found to be contrary to S85(1) and S85(6) of the
Water Resources Act 1991 for the leak of diesel fuel into
controlled water, and contrary to Regulation 3 and Regulation 9 of
the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001
as it did not have a secondary containment system.
This decision should act as an important reminder to
companies that aside from the requirements under the regulations,
they also need to consider the security arrangements for protecting
oil stores. Water pollution is considered an offence of strict
liability and thus fault or negligence does not need to be found;
it just has to be proven that the pollution incident
occurred.
Please read legal information.