Veolia Environmental Services pleaded guilty to eight charges brought against it. In a joint prosecution brought by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Veolia was accused of breaching the conditions of its waste management licence.
[Veolia] was fined £101,000 for releasing toxic fumes into the air, sparking a full-scale medical alert. Residents in Kirkdale, Anfield and Everton suffered streaming eyes and sore throats up to 10 hours after the alert near Bootle docks in April 2006. Four workers at Veolia Environmental Services, in Bootle, were taken to hospital with internal burns after the toxic bromine gas emitted from a container…The situation was exacerbated because emergency plans the company had in place were not followed. During the incident, emergency services were put on red alert as the vapours drifted over built-up areas of north Liverpool. Residents were urged to stay indoors by police and keep windows and doors closed, and a special decontamination tent was set up outside Fazakerley hospital to treat sufferers.
According to LetsRecycle:
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Ltd, has today [14 January 2009] been ordered to pay to £166,000 in fines and costs after an incident at its hazardous waste treatment facility in Bootle, Merseyside. The company was fined £101,000 and ordered to pay £65,000 costs after an incident at the facility on April 27, 2006 caused the release of toxic fumes which led to four members of staff having to receive medical treatment and several members of the public reporting side effects…
Commenting on the case, the EA’s Mark Easedale said: “This incident highlights the importance of ensuring correct procedures are followed to ensure there is no harm to the environment when hazardous waste is being handled. This was a serious incident which could easily have been avoided. ”
And, HSE inspector Daniel Longdon claimed that it was only down to luck that the incident hadn’t had an even more severe impact.
