Churngold Recycling shocked by Agency raid

Churngold Recycling made the comments after the Agency made multiple arrests following the biggest ever hazardous waste raid conducted in the UK.

The Environment Agency said that 60 of its investigators, supported by Avon and Somerset Police, swooped on several sites last week as part of an ongoing major investigation into the suspected illegal treatment, dumping and trading of hazardous waste including heavy metals and asbestos.

The Agency said the operation, known as Operation Durable, was a complex investigation into suspected toxic waste offences by an Avonmouth-based company, its directors and senior management. While it did not name the company in question, a picture of Environment Agency officers searching for evidence (above) appears to include Churngold Recyclings logo.

Churngold Recycling is part of the Churngold Group of companies and offers a broad range of recycling and waste disposal services, including hazardous waste services.

Churngold

When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokeswoman for Churngold Recycling said: “Churngold Recycling has been engaged in a technical dispute with the Environment Agency for several months concerning the categorisation of material as a product or a waste.

“The discussions are very complex and our legal team has been actively engaged to help resolve the issue. We are co-operating fully with both the police and the Environment Agency.

“We regard the actions taken by the Environment Agency over the last few days as astonishing and will be defending our position and reputation extremely robustly.

“All other Churngold companies remain unaffected and it is business as usual.”

Operation

According to the Environment Agency, specialist EA crime staff from across England and Wales have been brought in to support given the unprecedented scale of Operation Durable. “Police have been deployed with EA staff to make arrests, gain access to properties and assist with collecting evidence. Last week Environment Agency teams conducted interviews, began searches and analysis of evidence.

“Ten people have been arrested as part of the operation and taken for questioning by the Environment Agencys National Environmental Crime Teams (NECT). They have all been released on conditional bail pending further enquiries until a date in January 2013.

“The investigation is ongoing and expected to take many more months to complete.”

Andy Higham, head of the EA’s NECT said: “Following a covert Environment Agency investigation we worked with police to successfully bring in suspects. We take waste crime extremely seriously. This is a live and complex investigation, anyone with further information should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”