[OSM-talk] Company prosecuted on basis of GPS tracklog

[Richard Fairhurst]

Just got this press release through from the Environment Agency  
(http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/) as part of my day job:



GPS technology used to track-down polluters

Environmental clean-up company fined for pollution offence

J K Environmental & Sons were today fined £2500, and ordered to pay  
£3083 in costs, for polluting a tributary of the Grunty Fen Catchwater  
Drain, on 17 November 2005, with contaminated waste liquid in  
contravention of Section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

The court, sitting at Ely Magistrates, heard that a J K Environmental  
wastewater tanker discharged its contents directly into a watercourse  
near Wilburton, Cambridgeshire. The pollution caused was found to be  
three to four times the polluting strength of raw sewage and had a  
significant effect on water quality in the area.

J K Environmental & Sons Ltd. of Orchard Road, Royston, Hertfordshire  
had pleaded guilty to the offence on 27 March 2007at a previous  
hearing at Ely Magistrates Court.

The alleged driver of the tanker involved in the incident, also  
appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to a charge under  
Section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991 and a date is to be set  
for his trial.

On Thursday 17 November two members of the pubic saw a tanker parked  
on a road siding on Station Road, Wilburton. They both reported to the  
Environment Agency that they had seen the tanker discharging a dark  
coloured liquid at a high flow rate from the vehicle, and although  
they didn't have the registration number, they had seen the words 'JK  
Environmental' on the side of the tanker.

Within 20 minutes of receiving the report, Environment Agency officers  
arrived at the site but found that the lorry had left. The officers  
found evidence that the ground had been disturbed where the force of  
the flow had eroded the surface and sewage related debris was found on  
the ground. Samples were taken from the affected watercourse and it  
was found that the polluting matter, a dark coloured turbid matter,  
had the pollution strength of between three and four times that of  
raw, untreated sewage and that the liquid had potentially toxic levels  
of ammonia in each sample over the 100m stretch that was sampled.

Two weeks later various documents, including worksheets and personnel  
logsheets, were seized from JK Environmental's office in Royston. On a  
further visit, a specialist on GPS tracking systems went with  
Environment Agency officers and extracted tracking data from a  
computer. This showed the route one of JK Environmental's vehicles had  
taken and a stop it made at the same location, date and time as the  
reports were received from members of the public.

Prior to the incident occurring, the GPS tracking device, fitted to  
the tanker showed the vehicle had stopped at a number of nearby mobile  
home sites known to have septic tanks.

Commenting on the case, Phil Henderson, Senior Environment Officer  
with the Environment Agency said, "We are concerned that the company  
didn't have a system or sufficient supervision in place to ensure that  
its vehicles and equipment couldn't be used like this. The offence was  
committed deliberately by an employee, using a company vehicle, with  
company equipment, on company time and therefore the company must bear  
some responsibility for the incident”. This fact has been recognised  
by the court.

“It appears that the employee deliberately discharged sewage matter  
from the vehicle causing serious pollution of a fenland watercourse  
and we are pleased that the company accepted responsibility for this  
incident and entered a timely guilty plea. The use of modern  
technology in this case highlights the means we are now able to use to  
trace and identify offenders who seek to ignore regulations in place  
to protect the environment”.