Two companies have been fined £14,000 for illegal offences in Northern Ireland.
Foyle Recyclers, one of its directors and Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners were fined at Londonderry Crown Court earlier this month. The companies were found guilty of four breaches of waste management legislation, namely the Waste and Contaminated Land Order (Northern Ireland) SI 1997/2778, in a case which was the subject of a Northern Ireland Environment Agency investigation.
The offences related to the operation of an unlicensed scrap yard at the premises owned by Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners between November 2006 and November 2007. Each party was made the subject of a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Foyle Recyclers were fined for depositing and knowingly causing or permitting waste to be deposited without a waste management licence. The company was also found guilty, along with its director and the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners, of keeping, treating or disposing of waste without such a licence.
This is the first confiscation order to have been obtained in the UK against a port authority.
