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22 Mar 1999
Friends of the Earth today congratulated the Environment Agency for publishing a “hall of shame”, listing the polluters fined most for illegal pollution in 1998. But FOE has described the level of fines as “pitiful”. ICI, who came top of the Environment Agency list, were fined less than 0.15 per cent of company profits.
The Environment Agency have named more than 40 companies which were fined in 1998.This initiative follows hard on the heels of Friends of the Earth's Factory Watch Campaign,which “named and shamed” around 100 companies that are releasing huge amounts of cancer-causing chemicals. ICI featured heavily in FOE's campaign, with four factories releasing more than 2,000 tonnes of cancer-causing chemicals in the air. More information on over 1,500 factories is available at FOE's groundbreaking internet site,/factorywatch/
ICI were in trouble again recently when their Tioxide factory in Teesside released tonnes of hydrochloric acid into an important wildlife site in Teesside. Environment Minister Michael Meacher responded by dragging in senior ICI managers for a dressing down.
Mike Childs, Senior Pollution Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
“The Environment Agency get top marks for naming and shaming the worst
polluters. But companies with a filthy record, like ICI, are being handed
down pitiful fines. It's time for environmental crimes to be heavily
punished. The courts must get their act together and levy fines which
really make polluters feel a sharp pain in their wallets. Only then
will Britain's filthy factories clean up. And only then will the environment
and public health be properly protected.”
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
