§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to examine the issue of criminal liability of private sector companies which take over the management of local authority landfill sites under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the Water Act 1989, which then cause pollution as a direct result of waste deposited in the past.
§ Mr. YeoWe have no plans to examine the issue of criminal liability in these circumstances.
However, my right hon. and learned Friend the then Secretary of State announced on 24 March 1993 at column 633 a wide-ranging review by an interdepartmental group of officials, under the chairmanship of his Department, of the problems associated with contaminative uses of land. Among the issues to be covered by this review will be civil liability for contamination.