Scottish government to set up 'taskforce' to target environmental crime

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead promised "tough, targeted action" to prevent criminals profiting at the expense of the environment at a summit in Edinburgh.

He also promised improvements to existing environmental legislation designed to make it simpler, more targeted and more effective, as well as better-targeted penalties for environmental offences.

The new 'Environmental Crime Taskforce' will combine the expertise of enforcement authorities and environmental regulator the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Lochhead said.

Environmental law expert Gordon McCreath of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said the initiative was the latest in a "long line of improvements" among the police, SEPA and the Crown Office.

"Experience advising clients being threatened with environmental prosecution has shown us that previous initiatives resulted in a noticeable hardening of environmental enforcement policy. However that didn't just apply to those involved in organised crime. Everyone subject to environmental regulation should take note of this further development in environmental enforcement policy in Scotland," he said.

In a statement, Lochhead said that the Scottish Government would leave "no stone unturned" in ensuring the perpetrators of environmental crime would be caught.

"The police identified environmental crime as one of their top ten priorities this year and that's why we will establish an Environmental Crime Taskforce to intensify our battle against this illegal behaviour. Where illegal activity causes damage, we will continue to seek prosecution in the courts," he said.

The new taskforce would be well equipped to deal with the growing issue of organised crime in the sector including stolen equipment found at landfill sites, money laundering at unlicensed scrap yards or illegal dumping of industrial chemicals, he added.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, SEPA and the police will work together to establish the new taskforce. Increased collaboration and intelligence sharing would lead to more successful prosecutions, Lochhead said.

SEPA's chief executive, Dr Campbell Gemmell, said that the regulator would work closely with the Government and partner agencies on legislative improvements and better penalties.

"Both of these will make a huge difference to dealing effectively with environmental crime," he said.

"SEPA has developed an approach for assessing peoples' views on compliance on a range from truly criminal, through the risk-taker and poorly managed, to well-managed operators. Helping those businesses who are willing and want to comply with legislation, whilst coming down swiftly and strongly on those who aren't, is a SEPA priority."

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, who is the Scottish Government's top legal adviser, said that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service would "continue to play its part in tackling a crime which has an impact not only on Scotland's communities but beyond."

"We will also fulfil our international obligations to benefit and protect our natural environment," he said.