§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Health and Safety Executive is intending to prosecute the owner of Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight for illegal disposal of containers of Cymag, and, if not, why not. [HL221]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)The disposal of pesticides is enforced by the Environment Agency. However, as a result of the publicity surrounding HSE's prosecution of the owner of Boswell Farm for a range of breaches of pesticides and health and safety legislation, it came to the attention of HSE that unknown packages had been buried on Mersley Farms, Newchurch, IoW. HSE urgently followed up this information to the point of being able to offer the Environment Agency good sources of intelligence on the locations. The HSE has had no direct involvement in the investigation of the allegations now being carried out by the Environment Agency. A decision on whether or not to prosecute for the alleged contravention of environmental legislation will be taken by the agency in the light of the conclusions of its investigation.