Specialist environmental barrister John Jolliffe acted for a leading recycler of waste oils against the Environment Agency. The client operated at a site on the River Orwell. Following a freak storm, hundreds of litres of oil escaped into the river. The client’s premises were about 800 metres from a wetland designated under the Ramsar convention as of international importance, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The escape caused significant damage to animal life. The clean-up operation has so far cost over £300,000.
The Court acknowledged the exceptional circumstances of the escape, and that the client had acted quickly to remediate the impact. The verdict was a fine of £30,000.
Read more on the BBC here.
