A Cheshire haulage company has been fined £15,000 after pleading guilty to polluting 5km of the River Weaver with oil. When DJM Logistics (UK) of Winsford appeared at Northwich Magistrate's Court it was fined £15,000 with £4,633.84 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution. British Waterways had to clean up the oil spill from a site belonging to the company, which was reported to the Environment Agency in September 2005.
The pollution of the river, which runs between
Winsford and Runcorn on the Manchester Ship Canal, was described as "significant". A number of swans were affected by the oil and were subsequently treated by the RSPCA. DJM Logistics (UK) is a sister company of DJM Logistics (Europe) whose clients include Dunlop and Jiffy Packaging. The spillage happened after a contractor was called in to remove a disused oil fuel tank.
The firm's MD Mike Hickman says a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the contractor who failed to appear in court. He adds that the fine should not affect the firm's trading: "It's a very unfortunate incident. We were fully exonerated from a health and safety point of view - we attempted to stay within the confinements of the law."
Reed Business Information Limited.©2008
