Developer fined

A&P Ports and Properties Ltd had insisted no dredging would be required during the development of Falmouth Marina, despite having already drawn up a tender to do just that. In December, at Truro Crown Court, Judge Christopher Elwen said the company had embarked on a ‘prolonged’ campaign to ‘mislead’.

A&P Ports and Properties Ltd admitted three breaches of the Food and Environmental Protection Act. A confiscation order was made which required the company to pay £400,000. It was also fined £70,000 in total and ordered to pay costs of £160,000.

The court heard that the case surrounded the £8.8m project to create a 290 berth marina at Falmouth, a scheme unveiled in 2006 which required the demolition of two wharves dating back to the 1930s. Andrew Oldfield, prosecuting, said the seabed under the wharves had not been dredged since 1938 and the silt contained heavy metals and toxins such as TBT.

He said A&P Ports and Properties had discovered that dredging would be required, but fearing the costs of having to safely dispose of the material or being forced to undertake a time consuming environmental impact assessment, the firm kept the crucial information to itself.

In April, 2007, an employee estimated that 9,700 cu/m of material would have to be removed from the wharf area. Mr Oldfield said A&P Ports and Properties Ltd issued a tender for the demolition of one wharf which required the removal of silt beneath the structures, but did not mention that it was highly contaminated.

The deception came to light when an inspector from the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) visited the site and saw a digger at the wharves lowering a bucket into the water and shifting the silt. The dredging was captured on video and condemned by Natural England as ‘the worst possible way’ of moving toxic sediment around.

By David Foxwell