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Dispute over waste licence
A DISPUTE over the waste disposal licence of a Foxdale company has left customers unsure as to whether they may be breaking the law.
Both the company and the government have issued conflicting statements.
In a public notice from the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) in the Examiner of August 20, it was announced that under the Public Health Act 1990, the licence held by building, groundworks, demolitions and haulage company Foxdale Precast Limited (FPL Ltd), to dispose waste at The Old Yard, Stoney Mountain Road, Eairy – where the company is based – had been revoked in March.
However the company responded with their own advertisement taken out in last week’s Examiner, rebuking the claim.
It read: ‘FPL Ltd wish to confirm and reassure all our customers that the decision taken by the Environmental Protection Unit to revoke our waste licence was an ultra vires act (an act outside of the EPA’s remit). Therefore the decision made to revoke the license was not lawful.’
It added: ‘FPL Ltd look forward to receiving and processing waste from all its valued customers to the highest environmental standards.’
While the original government notice warns that disposal of controlled waste may be considered an offence if carried out on land not occupied by the owner of a licence, FPL Ltd’s Peter Freeland confirmed the company’s normal day to day operations had so far not been affected.
However Mr Freeland was not able to explain the full circumstances of the issue with his company’s licence as the legal dispute while the Environmental Protection Unit is ongoing.
The licence in question, WDL/02/2004/V2, does not appear on DEFA’s register of licensed waste disposal sites, though the licence it superseded – WDL/02/2004/V1 – still features, listing the company’s East Foxdale site as a waste transfer station, meaning waste can be temporarily stored or processed, but not permanently disposed of.
The EPU’s Simon Renton said: ‘I cannot comment about this case as it is currently the subject of an investigation, though we can advise that the department revoked the licence for the waste transfer site on March 2 this year.’
He added: ‘Anyone disposing or depositing waste is asked to ensure that the site has an appropriate waste disposal licence, otherwise it could be a criminal offence. Any queries, contact the department.’
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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