A total of more than £22,000 has been paid to local charities by people who were caught dumping waste.
Portland Basin Marina Limited has paid £2,000 to East Manchester Community Boat Project after they were caught causing pollution to the River Tame. They allowed dredging spoil to be place on the banks of the river, which slid into the river, causing harmful pollution.
The company responded by carrying out improvement works on the site and introduced a new policy to stop this happening again. They also paid the costs incurred by the Environment Agency.
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Elsewhere in Greater Manchester Adam Daniels paid £100 to the Rochdale Borough Climate Change Fund for his involvement with an illegal waste site at Mercedes House between March and November 2021. He agreed to remove the waste from the site and close his business.
Tania Foster paid £20,000 to Cheshire Wildlife Trust for her part in an illegal waste site on land at Parkgate Road, Wood Bank, Chester between January and July 2021. She also agreed to stop importing waste to the illegal site and remove the waste material containing asbestos.
Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency said: "All businesses have a responsibility to ensure their activities do not present a risk of harm to people and the environment. When companies fail to meet their environmental obligations, it’s a serious matter and we will take appropriate action.
"Enforcement undertakings are considered carefully by the Environment Agency and can play an important part in changing how operators respond to an environmental incident. They give companies who fail to comply with legal requirements, or pollute the environment, the chance to positively address and restore any harm caused and prevent repeat incidents.
"We would encourage all companies to check their responsibilities and ensure they are legally compliant by visiting GOV.UK.”
All of these came after after the Environment Agency accepted 'enforcement undertakings', in which a voluntary offer is made by companies and individuals who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions by putting right the effects of their offending, putting right the impact on third parties and making sure the offence cannot happen again.
