A round-up of the latest environmental court cases
Penalties for CRC offences
Four firms have received civil penalties for failing to comply with their obligations under the carbon reduction commitment (CRC) scheme. Retailer Poundworld must pay £45,000 for failing to register for phase 2 of the scheme, from 1 April 2014, contrary to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Order 2013.
Meanwhile, financial services business PSC Nominee 1 (formerly RB Investments), Geraud (UK), the British arm of Groupe Geraud, an Anglo-French company, and Basingstoke-based Pentair SSC UK (formerly Pentair Flow Control (UK)) received penalties for failing to submit a CRC annual report for the 2013/14 compliance year by the deadline, 31 July 2014. PSC must pay £4,740, Geraud £5,000 and Pentair £13,500.
Shell in Canada fined for odour
Shell Canada, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, has been ordered by the government in Ontario to pay C$825,000 for discharging a contaminating odour from its Sarnia refinery in 2013.
In a statement, the Ontario ministry of the environment and climate change said Shell had pleaded guilty to one offence of permitting a discharge of an odour containing mercaptan into the natural environment, causing an adverse effect and contrary to Canada’s Environmental Protection Act (EPA). The ministry said mercaptan’s foul odour affected numerous people in the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation (AFN) community. The firm was fined C$500,000 and ordered to pay C$200,000 to the AFN as well as a C$125,000 victim surcharge.