Environmental

Our barristers offer real experience and insight in respect of alleged environmental breaches.

Our specialist environmental team has particular experience of:

• Environmental permitting regulations investigations and prosecutions.
• Pollution, groundwater and water resources investigations and prosecutions.
• Waste management, permits: investigations and breaches.
• Producer responsibility and transfrontier shipment regulations: export of waste products, alleged contamination of exports.
• Advice following environmental incidents and investigations.
• Response to investigation by Environment Agency (EA), local environmental health, the exercise of statutory powers; and invitations to be interviewed under caution.
• Company, directors, and employee criminal liability.
• Representation at the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court; jury trials and sentencing.
• Challenge by way of judicial review to the service of enforcement notices by the EA.

Our team have advised and acted for corporations in environmental prosecutions concerned with the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Water Resources Act 1991, groundwater / controlled waters pollution, waste management regulation, waste permits/ licenses, Producer Responsibility Obligations and Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations and the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Recent cases include an Environmental Permitting regulations prosecution that concluded in the Court of Appeal, and is the leading authority on the sentencing of major corporations decided by the Lord Chief Justice; other cases include those related to exports of sorted waste paper; alleged mixture of green list waste; contamination, in alleged breach of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations and the absence of a threshold for such contamination; and defending allegations of wrongful storage of tyres in a manner likely to cause pollution. Members of the team were instructed for both the prosecution and for the defence in the Environment Agency prosecution resulting from the Buncefield oil terminal explosion and fire.

Our environmental team also organise and conduct legal seminars across the UK focused on current issues in environmental enforcement law and practice.