WASTE SCANDAL
Firm that built up stockpiles of body parts and other medical debris faces criminal investigation
A BUSINESS that built up stockpiles of body parts and other medical waste faces a criminal investigation.
Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) is reported to have allowed amputated limbs, infectious liquids, material linked to cancer treatment and hazardous pharmaceutical waste to build up in huge stockpiles.
Sites where there are concerns include the firm’s Newcastle facility in the North Tyneside Industrial Estate.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Healthcare Environmental Services remains in breach of its environmental permits at six sites including at its clinical waste treatment and transfer station at Chollerton Drive, North Tyneside. Our enforcement action to clear the excess waste continues.
“We have taken a range of action against the company but it has repeatedly breached permits and continued to operate unlawfully. As a result, in addition to our enforcement activity to clear the sites, we are undertaking a criminal investigation.
“Our teams have taken action to attend the company’s sites to ensure they are locked and not accessible to the public. Our officers are carrying out regular
inspections to monitor the security of each site.”
It came after the Environment Agency issued an enforcement notice for the HES Newcastle site, ordering the firm to clear “excess waste” at the facility.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also launched an investigation to establish if criminal offences have been committed at HES sites in Dundee and Shott. Last year, the Health Service Journal revealed that excess waste including human body parts reached 350 tonnes at the firm’s facility in Normanton, West Yorkshire – five times more than the compa-
Environment Agency
We have taken a range of action against the company but it has repeatedly breached permits