UK Firm Pleads Guilty to Exporting Household Waste
Submitted by Nancy Isarin, IMPEL-TFS Secretariat. Reprinted from Recycling Today magazine, 2 February 2007.

Grosvenor Waste Management Ltd. (GWM) pleaded guilty to illegally exporting household waste destined for developing countries in South East Asia.

This successful prosecution shows that we won’t hesitate to pursue companies who export waste illegally," said John Burns, the Environment Agency’s Ports Project manager. "There is a legitimate and growing market abroad for recyclables, but there are rules covering waste exports."

GWM pleaded guilty to illegally exporting shipments of more than 75 40-foot containers, amounting to about 1.8 million kgs of unsorted household waste to India, China, and Indonesia.

The Environment Agency is responsible for enforcing the regulation of shipments of waste into and out of England and Wales under the Waste Shipment Regulations. Burns continued: "Under the rules, it’s illegal to export waste for disposal, but it can be sent abroad for recycling.

"However, mixed municipal waste, is subject to stricter controls under the EU Waste Shipment Regulations which mean that we need to be notified and approve of the shipment it before it can go abroad."

The maximum penalty for exporting waste illegally is an unlimited fine or up to 2 years in prison. GWM pleaded guilty to 6 breaches of the Transfrontier Shipments of Waste Regulations at Maidstone Crown Court and agreed to pay £85K towards the Environment Agency’s costs. The prosecution follows a two-year investigation by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency has worked closely with HM Customs, Indonesian Customs and the Dutch environmental regulator, VROM throughout the course of this investigation.

This case is subject to reporting limitations until sentencing. The company will be sentenced on 4 April 2007 . This case was brought under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994, and was shipped from Grosvenor’s site between November 2004 and May 2005.

The Environment Agency’s investigation involved detaining 15 containers at Southampton destined for China and India. A further 60 containers planned for shipment to Wuhu in China had been sent via Holland. Of these 53 were intercepted by VROM, the Dutch Environment Authorities and returned by way of a formal request to the Defendant’s site in Crayford. A further 20 containers were inspected by customs officials in Jakarta Indonesia .

Ukrainian Court Suspends Construction Project to Preserve Protected Area
Environment People Law, http://www.epl.org.ua

On January 22, 2007, a Ukrainian court declared illegal the July 2006 decision of the Mykolaiv Oblast Council to withdraw 28 hectares of protected area lands of Granito-Stepowe Pobyzza Regional Landscape Park.

By this decision, the court suspended the launching of a multi-million dollar energy facility construction project, the Tashlytskia Hydro-Power Acculuting Station (HPAS), by the national nuclear energy-producing company Energoatom, as well as the creation of an additional water reservoir on the already overregulated South Bug River . Overall, the ruling indicates that the interests of nature protection, history and culture were more decisive for the court than economic interests.

Plaintiffs in this case were local environmental activists represented by the nonprofit organization Environment People Law’s Olya Melen, lead attorney and Goldman Prize winner for Europe, 2006.

The contested 28 hectares, part of the South Bug River and lands along the river banks, are valuable to both the atomic industry and the environment. From the industry’s perspective, these lands should be flooded to raise the South Bug River, allowing the launching of the Tashlytska HPAS. From a conservation perspective, these lands are a valuable habitat for endangered species of flora and fauna protected within Ukraine and internationally. The nearly extinct plant, silene hypanica klok, for example, finds shelter in these lands. The court notes that the inaccessibility of contested lands for humans and cattle facilitates conservation of this natural bio-complex, thus, the urgent necessity for conservation measures is indisputable.

The Granito-Stepowe Pobyzza Park, established in 1996, has no analogy either in the steppe zone of Europe or in the world due to its bio-geographical and historical-archeological peculiarities. The complex and fragile habitats within the lands necessitate conservation of the entire park. Conversely, the court concluded that construction of the Tashlytska HPAS is not the only possible solution to the problems of the energy sector.

The court declared the decision of the Mykolaiv Council, which was actively lobbied for by Energoatom, as illegal, ungrounded, and not reasonable. The court questioned the grounds for lobbying for the Tashlytska HPAS construction and the neglect of alternatives such as construction of gas or thermal power stations to address mitigation of peak voltage issues in the energy system. The aim of the disputed decision of the local council was to create conditions for realization of the particular construction project, which resulted, however, in neglect of nature protection interests. The judge stated in his decision, “This is evidence of lobbying for interests of a particular project and particular object construction.”

This decision has significant implications for ordinary citizens concerned with environmental problems, as the court upheld the right of citizens to access courts and challenge the decisions of authorities that are likely to have adverse impacts on the environment and violate their rights. Such rights include the right to participate in the development of nature protection measures and the right to general use of natural resources.

EPL Assists Residents of Ukrainian City to Defend their Right to Clean Drinking Water
By Yelyzaveta Aleksyeyeva, Senior Lawyer, Environment-People-Law

On December 27, 2006 , the Drohobych City Court in Ukraine passed a judgment in favor of 63 plaintiffs, residents of the Drohobych “Mlynky” area, against the Drohobych City Council. The plaintiffs, with the assistance of the nonprofit organization Environment People Law (EPL) had petitioned the court to declare illegal the City Council’s failure to provide a clean drinking water supply and obligate the City Council to immediately start such supplying.

For many years, the city was faced with the problem of contaminated well water, as many homestead lands neighbor the industrial grounds of the “Halychyna” oil processing factory and its oil pipelines. In 1991, the Chief Sanitary Doctor of Drohobych City reported to the city’s mayor about the oil products’ contamination of well water. Unfortunately, the city officials failed to address the problems of the residents, and for 15 years, no measures were taken to protect the health of the residents and eliminate the causes of contamination.

In December 2005, city residents who were frightened by the results of laboratory analyses of the water in their wells asked for assistance from EPL to file a lawsuit in court. The litigation, which lasted for more than a year and consisted of more than ten court hearings, resulted in a victory for the plaintiffs. The Drohobych City Council is now obliged to build a centralized water supply and sewage system to supply residents with drinking water. Until these systems will be put into operation, the City Council is obligated to provide drinking water for residents by tank-cars.

This is a precedential decision for Ukraine , because the grounds for the court’s decision were based exclusively on citizens’ right to clean drinking water and authorities’ obligation to provide it, and in a case of contamination, to take measures to protect people’s health. These provisions are stated in the Constitution of Ukraine and some Laws, but not in authorities’ rulings or guidelines, and thus were not enforced properly.

During the case hearing, the City Council provided many records of spatial committee meetings on the water contamination issue. The Defendant also displayed its Project to build a water supply and sewer system, but the court did not consider these measures adequate to meet the authorities’ obligations. According to the decision, the City Council must now raise approximately one million dollars to realize the Project and provide clean drinking water to the residents of the Drohobych “Mlynky” area.

France Prioritizes the Inspection of “Classified Installations” in 2007
Submitted by Annick Bonneville, Chef du bureau de la qualité et de la modernisation de l'inspection des installations classes, Ministère de l’écologie et du développement durable. Email: Annick.BONNEVILLE@ecologie.gouv.fr.

Nelly Olin, the French minister for ecology and sustainable development, has included the inspection of classified installations among the Ministry’s priorities for this year.

"Classified installations” are industrial or agricultural installations such as refineries, chemical plants, quarries, and livestock farmsthat are likely to cause pollution or nuisance, or affect the safety or health of local residents. There are around 500,000 classified installations in France, of which 58,000 require a preliminary authorization (7,600 under EU IPPC directive and 1,190 under EU Seveso directive).

In 2007, the French priorities focus on the implementation of the law of July 30, 2003 on technological risk prevention and the national health-environment plan. These priorities also take into account France 's European and international commitments (Seveso II and IPPC directives).

These ambitious action plans set a clear and stable framework for the inspection of classified installations and will progress significantly in 2007, in particular with the elaboration and approval early this year of the first PPRT (technological risk prevention plan), the improvement of the safety of grain storage silos, the generalized use of “best available techniques” in the largest industrial and agricultural installations, and the further reduction of toxic emissions that are dangerous for health such as lead, benzene, mercury, and dioxins.

New actions are also planned, such as the control of chemicals within the new European regulations (REACH, directives on biocides and the limitations of emissions of volatile organic compoundsdue to the use of organic solvents in certain paints and varnishes), enabling a better accountancy of health problems due to the use and dissemination of these products.

Additionally, a campaign of unannounced inspections is planned to check the applicability in major “Seveso” plants of the POI (internal operation plans) that define the means and measures to be applied in case of accidents.

Under the authority of Departmental Prefects, permitting and enforcement are mainly carried out by:

• The DRIRE (regional directorates for industry, research and the environment) for most industrial facilities (1,200 agents).
• The DDSV (departmental veterinary services) for farms, abattoirs, animal carcass disposal contractors and some food processing activities (240 agents).
• The STIIIC (technical department of the police prefecture of Paris ) for Paris and its surrounding area (60 agents).

Objectives are set for the implementation of modernization plans within the DRIRE and the DDSV. Performance indicators have been defined to measure the results of the inspection's main missions: regulatory supervision of classified installations, monitoring and follow-up.

These actions represent significant progress in environmental compliance and enforcement in France.

Russian Law Enforcement Officials Seize Wildlife Poachers
Reprinted from the World Wildlife Fund, 19 January 2007.

On 19 January 2007, Russian law enforcement officials seized three Siberian tiger skins, eight tiger paws and 332 tiger bones as well as 531 saiga horns and 283 Asiatic black bear paws near the Russian border with China, making it the largest bust of its kind in at least a decade. The seizure took place in a village near Russia 's eastern border with China in an area where the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) works with government authorities to combat the illegal trade of wildlife products when police stopped a car that had its passenger seats removed and was stuffed full of bags. The driver claimed to be delivering bags of potatoes but upon inspection police discovered the animal parts.

Poaching for illegal wildlife trade for use in traditional medicines, as trophies and in fashion is a significant threat to many species in this region. Dozens of Siberian tigers are killed by poachers annually in Primorye and Khabarovsk regions of Russia and their skins and body parts are smuggled to China . Saiga antelope horns are often smuggled to Russia through Kazakhstan and on to China . Asiatic black bear and brown bear are usually killed for their gall bladders and furs. The paws are eaten in soup.

"Endangered species do not belong on your mantle or in your soup," said Crawford Allan, Director of TRAFFIC North America , the wildlife monitoring arm of WWF and the IUCN - The World Conservation Union. "To secure the future of these animals in the wild, TRAFFIC and its partners are working to build capacity and boost cooperation among Russian, Chinese and Mongolian authorities to improve cross-border coordination and strict enforcement of wildlife laws."

All species represented in the seizure are protected by Russian and international law. The global CITES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) prohibits all commercial international trade in the Siberian tiger and the Asiatic black bear, for example. Russian law prohibits the taking, purchase, sale, transportation, or export of these protected species.

WWF regards the Russian Far East as a critical conservation priority for endangered Siberian tigers and Amur leopards and has focused on reducing poaching, curbing illegal logging in tiger habitat, and protecting key species in the region since the early nineties. WWF has established anti-poaching ranger brigades, helped create new protected areas, and trained and educated government officials on the illegal trade of wildlife products.

"We haven't seen a wildlife bust out in the countryside like this in a decade," said Dr. Darron Collins, managing director, Amur-Heilong program, World Wildlife Fund. "It's horrible that such a slaughter took place and the demand for these products is still there, but the criminals were caught and that alone demonstrates Russia 's commitment to quelling the problem. The big question now is how will these guys be prosecuted?"