A division of the controversial Church of Scientology has been fined £14,000 for leaking raw sewage into a West Sussex river, poisoning aquatic life.

The Church of Scientology Religious Education College in East Grinstead was found to have breached environmental regulations after local people complained of pollution in a tributary of the River Medway.

The stream bed became coated with grey sewage fungus and dead invertebrates were found more than 350 metres downstream after the college replaced its sewage treatment plant in August 2015.

An initial inspection by the Environment Agency in September found the new plant was working properly, but by October 2015 residents in the Saint Hill area raised concerns about pollution.

Inspectors found the new plant was pumping out waste water containing volumes of sewage 10 times over the permitted limit.

They took samples from the treatment plant on 19 occasions - 10 of which failed to meet environmental standards.

The college, based at Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, pleaded guilty to one offence of discharging effluent into a watercourse and asked for 10 others to be taken into consideration.

It is a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology, which was founded by science fiction author L Ron Hubbard in the 1950s based on his teachings of psychology, extraterrestrials and rebirth.

Scientology has several high profile devotees, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

The college was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,566 at Worthing Magistrates Court.

Dave Willis, area environment manager of the Environment Agency, said: “We are pleased that the court decided to impose a significant financial penalty on the organisation today.

“The incident had a serious and avoidable impact on a local watercourse, caused by failing to ensure that the new treatment plant operated correctly.

“We take these types of incidents very seriously and will do everything within our powers to safeguard the environment and people affected, and that includes bringing those who harm the environment to account for their actions.”

The court heard that the college had been aware of the long-standing problem and was therefore negligent, but has since spent a lot of money to get the treatment plant operating properly.

It also heard that no long-term damage was caused to the waterway. </s> The Church of Scientology has been fined £14,000 for polluting a river with raw sewage.

The Church of Scientology Religious Education College - a subsidiary of the organisation - repeatedly polluted a tributary of the River Medway with sewage from its toilets.

The church, based at Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to one offence and asked for ten others to be taken into consideration at Worthing Magistrates' Court on Friday 27 April.

The organisation was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs totalling £2,566.

The court heard that in August 2015, the church was replacing their old sewage treatment plant, with the new facility built to treat a higher volume of sewage.

The plant was completed and operating correctly when the Environment Agency inspected it in September 2015.

But in October, the Environment Agency was told of pollution in the Saint Hill area.

Investigators traced the pollution upstream to find that the newly installed treatment plant was the source.

Samples taken from the treatment plant found that the wastewater being discharged was over 10 times the permitted limit.

Investigators saw sewage fungus - described as 'a grey, slimy bacterial and fungal growth associated with sewage' covering the stream bed.

The stream bed had been covered for over 200 metres with sewage fungus and sediment associated with sewage.

The Environment agency said in a statement: 'Dead invertebrates were found for over 350 metres downstream of the discharge. '

Further inspections and sampling found that the treatment plant continued to pollute.

The Environment Agency took samples on 19 occasions of which 10 failed water quality standards, it said in a statement.

As part of the investigation the Environment Agency filed a notice requiring information about the design and installation of the sewage treatment plant, details of remedial works and also details of a large gala concert held at the complex.

Solicitors for the church responded with information and stated that although 1,600 guests had attended the concert additional toilet facilities had been provided that were not connected to the sewerage system.

Dave Willis, Area Environment Manager of the Environment Agency said: 'We are pleased that the court decided to impose a significant financial penalty on the organisation today.

'The incident had a serious and avoidable impact on a local watercourse, caused by failing to ensure that the new treatment plant operated correctly.

'We take these types of incidents very seriously and will do everything within our powers to safe-guard the environment and people affected, and that includes bringing those who harm the environment to account for their actions.'

The court heard the church was aware of the long-standing problem and was therefore negligent, but had since spent considerable money on installing new infrastructure to get the sewage treatment plant operating as it should.

They also noted that no long-term harm to the watercourse was caused. </s> A division of the controversial Church of Scientology has been fined £14,000 for leaking raw sewage into a West Sussex river, poisoning aquatic life.

The Church of Scientology Religious Education College in East Grinstead was found to have breached environmental regulations after local people complained of pollution in a tributary of the River Medway.

The stream bed became coated with grey sewage fungus and dead invertebrates were found more than 350 metres downstream after the college replaced its sewage treatment plant in August 2015.

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An initial inspection by the Environment Agency in September found the new plant was working properly, but by October 2015 residents in the Saint Hill area raised concerns about pollution.

Inspectors found the new plant was pumping out waste water containing volumes of sewage 10 times over the permitted limit.

They took samples from the treatment plant on 19 occasions - 10 of which failed to meet environmental standards.

The college, based at Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, pleaded guilty to one offence of discharging effluent into a watercourse and asked for 10 others to be taken into consideration.

It is a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology, which was founded by science fiction author L Ron Hubbard in the 1950s based on his teachings of psychology, extraterrestrials and rebirth.

Scientology has several high profile devotees, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

The college was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,566 at Worthing Magistrates Court.

Dave Willis, area environment manager of the Environment Agency, said: "We are pleased that the court decided to impose a significant financial penalty on the organisation today.

"The incident had a serious and avoidable impact on a local watercourse, caused by failing to ensure that the new treatment plant operated correctly.

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"We take these types of incidents very seriously and will do everything within our powers to safeguard the environment and people affected, and that includes bringing those who harm the environment to account for their actions."

The court heard that the college had been aware of the long-standing problem and was therefore negligent, but has since spent a lot of money to get the treatment plant operating properly.

It also heard that no long-term damage was caused to the waterway.

Press Association </s> The Church of Scientology's Religious Education College-subsidiary has been fined £14,000 after repeatedly polluting a River Medway-linked stream with raw sewage.

The church, based at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead just three miles south of Surrey, has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency after inspectors found 200 meters of sewage during an inspection in October 2015.

A church's annual gala concert, attended by 1,600 guests, led to additional toilet facilities being provided that were not linked to the sewerage system and led to over 200 metres of raw sewage being found.

The church pleaded guilty to one offence and asked for ten others to be taken into consideration at Worthing Magistrates' Court on Friday (April 27) as well as the £14,000 fine and being ordered to pay costs totalling £2,566.

Dave Willis, Environment Agency manager for the area, said: "We are pleased the court decided to impose a significant financial penalty on the organisation today. The incident had a serious and avoidable impact on a local watercourse, caused by failing to ensure that the new treatment plant operated correctly.

"We take these types of incidents very seriously and will do everything within our powers to safeguard the environment and people affected, and that includes bringing those who harm the environment to account for their actions."

The court heard that in August 2015 the church replaced their old sewage treatment plant with the new facility built to treat a higher volume of sewage. The plant was completed and operating correctly when the Environment Agency inspected in September 2015.

But in October the Environment Agency was notified of a pollution in the Saint Hill area and the investigating officer followed the pollution upstream to find that the newly installed treatment plant was the source.

Samples from the treatment plant found the wastewater being discharged was over 10 times the permitted limit.

The stream was visibly impacted by sewage, with sewage fungus - a grey, slimy bacterial and fungal growth associated with sewage and sewage polluted water - covering the stream bed.

Biological surveys of the watercourse showed pollution from the sewage spread for over 200 metres with small dead insects being found as far as 350 metres downstream.

Further inspections and sampling found that the treatment plant continued to pollute. Ultimately the Environment Agency took samples on 19 occasions, of which 10 failed.

As part of the investigation the Environment Agency served a Regulation 60 notice on the defendant company. This notice required information about the design and installation of the sewage treatment plant, details of remedial works and also details of a large gala concert held at the complex.

Magistrates stated the organisation was aware of the long-standing problem and therefore negligent, but has since spent considerable money on installing new infrastructure to get the sewage treatment plant operating as it should.

The court also noted that no long-term harm to the watercourse was caused. </s> (CNS): The Carnival Corporation has struck a settlement deal with US federal prosecutors over pollution and environmental law violations. The cruise company, which has made an agreement to part finance the Cayman Islands Government’s proposed controversial cruise berthing facility, has agreed to pay $20 million in a settlement for serious pollution charges. The company’s executives appeared in court Monday and came clean, but environmentalists believe Carnival got off lightly as the world’s biggest cruise line continues to pollute the air and oceans.

United States District Court Judge Patricia Seitz ordered top Carnival Corporation executives, including board chairman Micky Arison and CEO Arnold Donald, to appear in court on Monday, 3 June, for the probation revocation hearing. Donald made admissions in open court to the company’s responsibility for the violations.

“The company pleads guilty,” Arnold said. “We acknowledge the shortcomings. I am here today to formulate a plan to fix them.”

However, Judge Seitz noted pointedly, “The proof will be in the pudding, won’t it? If you all did not have the environment, you would have nothing to sell.”

Carnival has agreed to allow more stringent oversight by the court appointed monitor, create a compliance plan and compliance oversight position in the company. If the company misses agreed deadlines, it will be fined up to $1 million per day and up to $10 million per day if it misses deadlines by ten days.

Carnival has also agreed to reduce its use of single-use plastics by 50% by 2020 and has committed $20 million to improve its food waste management.

The deal comes after one of Carnival’s ship brands, Princess Cruise Lines, pleaded guilty in 2017 to more than a dozen charges relating to vessel pollution, as well as attempts and conspiracy to cover up what it was doing, obstructing justice and failing to maintain accurate records.

A confidential monitor’s report that was published by the judge in April revealed that the cruise line, which docks ships in Cayman waters every week and will be closely involved in the government’s cruise project if it goes ahead, was involved in hundreds of incidents of pollution between April 2017 to April 2018, including illegally dumping sewage, food waste and oil and burning heavy fuel oil in protected areas.

The Caribbean Princess, one of the ships dumping into the ocean, is due here in George Town Harbour on Monday and almost two dozen Carnival ships are expected to call on Cayman this month.

Stand.earth, an environmental activist organisation, said the agreement was “a backroom deal” showing no regard for those impacted by cruise ship pollution.

“Today’s ruling was a betrayal of the public trust and a continuation of the weak enforcement that has allowed Carnival Corporation to continue to profit by selling the environment to its passengers while its cruise ships contribute to the destruction of the fragile ecosystems they visit,” said Kendra Ulrich, senior shipping campaigner from Stand.earth. </s> Carnival Corporation has made a $20 million deal with federal prosecutors as settlement for charges that it violated its probation.

United States District Court Judge Patricia Seitz ordered top Carnival Corporation executives, including board chairman Micky Arison and CEO Arnold Donald, to appear in court on Monday, June 3 for a probation revocation hearing. The U.S. Office of Probation filed a motion for probation violations after the Court Appointed Monitor found cases of Carnival ships continuing to violate environmental laws.

As part of the plan announced on Monday, Carnival will allow more stringent oversight by the Court Appointed Monitor, create an action plan for compliance and create a Chief Compliance Officer position. If the company misses agreed deadlines, it will be fined up to $1 million a day and up to $10 million a day if it misses deadlines by 10 days.

Carnival has also agreed to reduce its use of single-use plastics by 50 percent by 2020 and has committed $20 million to improve its food waste management.

Carnival is on probation as a result of Princess Cruise Lines pleading guilty in 2017 to seven felony counts arising out of vessel pollution from Caribbean Princess and efforts to conceal that pollution, one count of conspiracy, four counts of failure to maintain accurate records and two counts of obstruction of justice.

 

 Seitz published the previously confidential monitor's report in April. In the 205-page report, the monitor records hundreds of incidents from April 2017 to April 2018. The Miami Herald reviewed each incident and found that 24 were for illegally dumping sewage, food waste or oil; 19 were for illegally burning heavy fuel oil in protected areas; and more than 150 were the result of items like furniture accidentally going overboard. Carnival reported the violations to authorities directly or noted them in its internal records.

Stand.earth called the ruling a backroom deal with little regard for the communities and individuals who are impacted by cruise ship pollution. Ahead of the hearing, the organization had supported the filing of on behalf of alleged victims to intervene in the proceeding. The judge presiding over the case allowed the victims’ legal counsel to speak at the hearing but ultimately decided the victims did not have standing under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

“Today’s ruling was a betrayal of the public trust and a continuation of the weak enforcement that has allowed Carnival Corporation to continue to profit by selling the environment to its passengers while its cruise ships contribute to the destruction of the fragile ecosystems they visit,” said Kendra Ulrich, Senior Shipping Campaigner at Stand.earth. </s> Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines was ordered by a Federal judge in Miami to pay a $20 million fine after getting caught dumping sewage into the ocean – again.

The company was fined $40 million in 2016 for dumping ‘oily waste’ into the ocean, then covering it up. Now the cruise line has been fined again for dumping plastic and food waste near the Bahamas violating the terms of its probation.

Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said the company is guilty and plans to fix its “shortcomings”. The company could face additional fines of up to $1 million a day if changes are not made by September. </s> A waste removal tradesman dumped 2,000 tons of rubbish in Devon then set fire to it.

Edward Donovan, of Churchill Drive, Crediton, has now been prosecuted for a range of offences after he turned part of an elderly land owners’ farm at Spreyton into an illegal waste site.

It was here he dumped waste he collected from commercial businesses across central and east Devon as EDS (Ed Donovan Services).

Donovan pleaded guilty to charges under the Environmental Protection Act at Exeter Magistrates Court, which included running a waste site on land owned by a couple in their 70s without a permit, causing pollution and setting fire to waste. He was given a jail sentence of 18 weeks, suspended for two years, and banned from the waste trade for five years.

He was also ordered to pay Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service £1,232 - the amount it cost the service to attend a large waste fire he set at the location last year. Donovan also has to pay £4,252 costs to the Environment Agency.

Adrian Evans, of the Environment Agency, said: "This is one of the worst incidents of illegal waste management I have come across for some time.

"The defendant showed a complete disregard for the environment, health and safety and for the owners of the land and their neighbours.

"As well as furniture, plastics, plasterboard and other vast quantities of waste which were strewn across a large area, we found materials containing asbestos."

The land owners were unaware of Donovan’s activity, who had been allowed to use the site from May 2017 in lieu of payment for dismantling and removing three caravans. When they found out, they were horrified and their son told Donovan to tidy up the site in November 2017. Instead, the defendant set waste alight.

Adrian Evans, of the Environment Agency, said: "This case serves as an important reminder to businesses and the public to be vigilant about who they allow to remove their waste.

"Waste producers should always insist on seeing evidence that waste being removed will be taken to suitably licensed or exempt facilities to be properly disposed of or recycled."

The Environment Agency has some simple steps for all householders and businesses to think about when giving your waste items to someone else to dispose of, whether you have paid them or not:

* Check they are a registered waste carrier. Ideally they should have a copy of their registration documents on them, ask to see these. You can check their licence number at environment.data.gov.uk/public-register , or call 03708 506506 and we can check for you.

* Get a written receipt/transfer note showing their contact details, a description of your waste and details of where they are taking it

* Note down the make, colour and registration number of the vehicle that’s taking your waste away.

* If their quote seems too good to be true, it probably is. Get another quote for comparison.

Taking these steps will help us all work together to deter waste criminals and reduce illegal fly-tipping and dumping that blights communities and costs thousands of pounds to clear and make safe. </s> Carnival Cruise Lines Hit With $20 Million Penalty For Environmental Crimes

Enlarge this image toggle caption Casey Rodgers/AP Casey Rodgers/AP

The cruise line giant Carnival Corporation and its Princess subsidiary have agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $20 million for environmental violations such as dumping plastic waste into the ocean. Princess Cruise Lines has already paid $40 million over other deliberate acts of pollution.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz approved the terms of the deal during a hearing Monday in Miami. She had appeared to grow increasingly frustrated as the company continued to flout environmental laws during the course of the years-long case.

"You not only work for employees and shareholders. You are a steward of the environment," she told Carnival CEO Arnold Donald, who attended the hearing with other senior executives. "The environment needs to be a core value, and I hope and pray it becomes your daily anthem."

Miami-based Carnival pleaded guilty Monday to six probation violations, including the dumping of plastic mixed with food waste in Bahamian waters. The company also admitted sending teams to visit ships before the inspections to fix any environmental compliance violations, falsifying training records and contacting the U.S. Coast Guard to try to redefine what would be a "major non-conformity" of their environmental compliance plan.

"I sincerely regret these mistakes. I do take responsibility for the problems we had," Arnold told the judge. "I'm extremely personally disappointed we have them. I am personally committed to achieve best in class for compliance."

Carnival has had a long history of dumping plastic trash and oily discharge from its ships, with violations dating back to 1993.

Environmental groups such as Stand.earth say they are tired of seeing the company hit with penalties "that cannot even be characterized as a slap on the wrist."

"Today's ruling was a betrayal of the public trust and a continuation of the weak enforcement that has allowed Carnival Corporation to continue to profit by selling the environment to its passengers while its cruise ships contribute to the destruction of the fragile ecosystems they visit," Kendra Ulrich, a senior shipping campaigner at Stand.earth, said in a statement.

When Princess was fined the $40 million in 2016, the Department of Justice called it "the largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution." The company also agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges for violations on five ships starting as early as 2005.

In 2013, a whistleblowing engineer exposed the illegal dumping of contaminated waste and oil from the company's Caribbean Princess ship. He told authorities that engineers were using a special device called the "magic pipe" to bypass the ship's water treatment system and dump oil waste straight into the ocean. The company also tried to cover up this practice from investigators, according to the Justice Department.

At the time, Princess told NPR that it chalked up the violations to "the inexcusable actions of our employees."

Part of the 2016 plea agreement required ships from eight of Carnival's companies to submit to court-supervised monitoring, which is how the most recent violations were discovered.

Judge Seitz had recently threatened to block Carnival from docking at U.S. ports. She also had requested that the company's senior executives attend Monday's hearing because she said she was convinced they weren't serious about complying with environmental laws.

In addition to the $20 million criminal penalty, Carnival has agreed to pay for 15 annual audits — on top of about three dozen ship and shore-side audits it's already on the hook for — and says it will restructure its corporate compliance efforts. If the company does not meet court-imposed deadlines for that restructuring, it will be fined up to $10 million per day.
Worthing Magistrates Court fines the Church of Scientology £14,000 and orders it to pay £2,566 in costs for polluting the River Medway in West Sussex, England, with raw sewage.