Teesside company pays £290,000 to woodland restoration project Tees Valley Wildlife Trust for breaching its Environmental Permit.
Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Ltd, which operates a biomass power station at Wilton, breached its environmental permit by wrongly classifying hazardous waste as non-hazardous during its disposal at landfill.
The company submitted an Enforcement Undertaking to the Environment Agency proposing a £290,000 charitable donation to Tees Valley Wildlife Trust.
An Enforcement Undertaking is a voluntary offer made by companies or individuals and usually includes a payment to an environmental charity to carry out environmental improvements in the local area.
The Lazenby Bank Woodland Restoration Project includes improvements to 215 acres of woodland near the Wilton International industrial complex at Teesside.
Ian Preston, Installations Team Leader at the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “We always consider enforcement options on a case-by-case basis and Enforcement Undertakings allow companies to put right what went wrong and contribute to environmental improvements and outcomes.
“In this case, the payment has allowed a planned and important community project to be delivered at pace – an environmental investment that has enhanced the local area for people and wildlife.”
In this case, the payment has allowed a planned and important community project to be delivered at pace…
In 2019, the Environment Agency audited Sembcorp’s disposal of Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) and found the company had classified all its IBA as non-hazardous and disposed of it at a non-hazardous landfill.
However, the Environment Agency said data showed that the IBA has been misclassified as non-hazardous since at least 2015 as it contained concentrations of lead, copper, zinc and nickel.
An independent report, which the regulator agreed with, found that the incorrect disposal didn’t lead to significant risk to human health or the environment.
Sembcorp accepted responsibility for the misclassification and started disposing of its IBA at a hazardous landfill facility, the Environment Agency said.
Tom Harman, Chief Executive of Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, commented: “It’s vital to see funds like this being reinvested into protecting our landscapes for people and wildlife.
“Lazenby Bank Woodland and Coatham Marsh are incredible nature assets for our communities in the Tees Valley. The project will help restore nationally important habitats for priority species and secure improvements for public access.”
