Waste load paints
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• An Essex warehousing and transport operator says it was misled by Customs documents into unwittingly distributing a cargo of hazardous German waste.
As a result Essex County Council says it will be taking legal action against the Welsh importer.
The Essex firm, Lloyds Forwarding, Shipping and Transport of West Thurrock, claims that the consignment, described as paint residue, passed unremarked through German and French customs be, fore arriving in Britain via Felixstowe and Harwich. It was then forwarded to Lloyds for onward distribution.
It was only when a trailer load delivered to a Manchester firm was examined that Essex Council was alerted and it analysed the load. Although some of it was paint, the cargo included sodium pyrophosphate, which reacts dangerously with steam and gas. Other chemicals which concern the council are pesticides and broken laboratory bottles inside sealed drums, causing chemicals to mix together. These are being examined under laboratory conditions by scientists wearing protective equipment.
The council says it will name the Welsh firm this week and prosecute it under the Control of Pollution Act 1974. "We will be bringing the full weight of the law to make sure this company takes these chemicals out of the country at its own ex
pense," says a spokesman for Essex County Council. The drums were unlabelled, making it impossible for emergency services to identify their contents following any accident, says the council.
Lloyds Forwarding says it was aghast when it found out the true nature of the consignment. "It was not just the legal implications," says a spokesman, "but we were very concerned for the safety of our warehouse staff and people who live locally." The company is also worried about the cost of disposing of the chemicals should the importer refuse to take responsibility.
"The consignment is in our warehouse," says managing director Frank Lloyd, "and we could be faced with a bill for as much as 2200,000 for disposal." However, legal sources believe the importer must bear the principal responsibility.
Lloyds fears that many other hauliers may be innocently cartying dangerous loads which are incorrectly described on importation documents.
The scare comes just three weeks after an acid leak from a truck in the Dartford Tunnel put six people in hospital. The truck was never found (CM 16-22 August).