St Regis pleaded guilty to charges that procedures were not followed by some staff, but is considering an appeal on the finding that it intentionally made a false entry in an Environment Agency record.

A jury heard that a freshwater dilution system was installed to dilute effluent with river water before it reached the sampling point, according to an Environment Agency statement. “This dilution system was not brought to the attention of the Agency which was unaware of its existence.”

Spence Seaman, an environment officer at the Environment Agency said: “The deliberate falsifying of records strikes at the cornerstone of our permitting system that is based on self monitoring by the Operator.

“By presenting the performance of its effluent treatment plant as being better than it was, the company saved a considerable amount of money by not having to carry out major improvement works.”

The case against Mr Steer was adjourned for sentencing until November 29, 2010. The case against St Regis Paper Co Ltd was adjourned until April 2011 following the Environment Agency’s decision to make a Proceeds of Crime Application.

St Regis considers appeal

Chris Rosser, managing director of St Regis Paper, said: “The lapse that occurred at Higher Kings was an isolated incident that took place despite the strict environmental control and monitoring procedures that we operate at all our paper mills.

“This is the first time that the Environment Agency has brought charges against us or any of our mills and we fully admit that agreed procedures were not followed by some of the staff on the ground at Higher Kings. We pleaded guilty on these points.

“However, we strongly refute the suggestion that an isolated incident at the smallest of our sites indicates in any way that we, as a company, endorse poor environmental practice.

“We shall be discussing with our lawyers the options for appealing the finding that St Regis intentionally as a company made a false entry in a required Environment Agency record.”

Higher Kings Mill makes coloured card for office and educational materials.

BACKGROUND

In 2004, the Environment Agency informed St Regis Paper that stricter controls on effluent quality were due to come into force in early 2005 and asked the company to provide a timetable of improvements to its effluent treatment plant to ensure it complied with the new discharge limits.

The company said it had made inquiries with a firm of effluent treatment specialists and been advised the cost of improvements to its treatment system at Higher Kings Mill could be as high as £1.2 million.

St REgis asked for extra time to put an upgrade into effect and stated that in the meantime it planned to install an aeration system in an attempt to improve the quality of effluent discharged into the River Culm.

In early 2005 the company told the Agency the aeration trial using the oxygenation equipment had achieved ‘positive results’ and no longer needed the extra time.

However, the Agency noticed that a number of the effluent quality results for a period between 2005 – 2007 submitted by St Regis Paper were ‘suspiciously close’ to the permitted limits.

In March 2008 an officer asked to see the company’s daily environmental records sheets and noticed that one had been altered from a value (100mg/l) in excess of the limit to just below the permitted maximum of 60mg/l.

When an officer later asked to see copies of the 2007 record sheets he was told it was not possible because they ‘had been destroyed.’ An effluent sample taken by the Environment Agency on March 6, 2008 had a Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) level two and a half times above the permitted limit.