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January 24th, 2006
Charges have been brought by the UK’s Environmental Agency against a man who was not only storing asbestos onsite and failing to dispose of it properly, but also failed to provide the Environmental Agency with documentation that was requested with regards to the removal and safe disposal of the stored asbestos waste.
The charges were brought against Harnaik Singh Sandhu. He was fined over 2,000 GBP and had to pay further costs of over 17,000 GBP. This followed a visit from an Agency officer in April last year after the Agency received reports that asbestos waste was being taken back onsite rather than being disposed of properly.
Upon his visit, the officer found bags of asbestos waste, which were clearly marked as such. He informed Sandhu and an employee that the bags, which had waste poking out of holes that were torn in them, should not have been kept onsite and needed to be removed. Further to this, Sandhu was asked to provide documentation relating to the movement of the asbestos waste.
Some weeks after the request for information, Sandhu told officers that waste had been removed. Upon investigating the matter it was discovered that asbestos waste had been stored and accepted onsite for quite some time before the officer’s initial visit.
One officer from the Agency stated: "There are strict laws concerning the storage and handling of all waste and those covering asbestos are particularly stringent. Mr. Sandhu’s behavior was negligent – it was his duty to ensure his company met this responsibility at all times."
