Polices about incinerated physique components ended up breached right after squander disposal plant shut, trial advised

Human overall body elements ended up burnt at decreased temperatures to support distinct a backlog right after a waste disposal plant closed down, a courtroom read.

Natural environment watchdog SEPA gave the eco-friendly light to incinerate system components at 850 levels instead than 1100 degrees at the plant which experienced been operated by Garry Pettigrew, 55.

His Health care Environmental Services (HES) small business closed right after losing NHS contracts to wipe out professional medical waste.

Pettigrew is on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Courtroom where by he denies allegations HES breached regulations at its plant in close proximity to Shotts, Lanarkshire, and one more site in Dundee.

Garry Pettigrew, 55, pictured, is on demo at Hamilton Sheriff Court exactly where he denies allegations his enterprise, Health care Environmental Expert services (HES) breached laws

The court docket heard Pettigrew’s company, Health care Environmental Expert services, pictured, closed down immediately after dropping NHS contracts

Mark Heggie, a senior policy officer with SEPA, advised the demo regulations were temporarily modified to enable human entire body parts to be ruined in an incinerator in Shotts and also in Lerwick and Dunbar.

He stated: ‘During the contingency time period, we allowed anatomical waste to be burnt at 850 levels relatively than at 1100 degrees.

‘This was performed in the course of the period when HES had shut down and there was a piece of kit on the web-site at Shotts, a pyrolysis, to make it possible for this to happen.

‘It was also taken to be incinerated in Lerwick and in Dunbar in which they also had tools to do this.’

Heggie, 51, also spoke of the penalties of folks ‘coming into contact’ with anatomical waste if it was not stored effectively.

He added: ‘If it is infected then there is of course a danger of any infectious attributes getting handed on to a man or woman.

‘The extremely character of this form of squander is not some thing that you would want to occur across.’

Heggie also claimed Pettigrew had shredded files relating to the Shotts web page forward of a SEPA take a look at in November 2018.

He reported: ‘We arrived on web-site and questioned Garry the place the paperwork have been and he replied that he experienced by now shredded the materials and could only present us a bag of shredded paper if we wished it.

‘He was advised of the penalties of non-compliance but to my knowledge we haven’t gained everything from him.’

The demo has formerly heard how Pettigrew was documented to law enforcement following trailers loaded with health-related waste ended up discovered at the Dundee site.

It has also listened to allegations Pettigrew stockpiled tonnes of health care squander at his web-site in Shotts in a bid to conserve money although he waited on a new incinerator currently being crafted.

Former upkeep employee Robert Henderson, 62, claimed Pettigrew had ‘ploughed’ so a great deal income into the pyrolysis products he was searching to minimize expenses.

Prosecutors assert Pettigrew wrongly retained a lot more than 187 tonnes of harmful waste, like human human body components, at his firm’s depot concerning Might 2017 and April 2019

A different witness claimed Pettigrew, of Shotts, had threatened to dump squander in medical center vehicle parks soon after HES closed in 2018.

Prosecutors declare Pettigrew wrongly retained more than 187 tonnes of dangerous waste, together with human overall body sections, at his firm’s depot among Could 2017 and April 2019.

They also declare HES moved squander to spots with insufficient storage room and kept waste at the plant for extended than rules make it possible for.

The agency faces a further charge that it failed to move unprocessed squander from refrigerated trailers.

And it is also alleged HES stored big quantities of waste for lengthier than the 7 times permitted and that a person trailer that contains pharmaceutical waste was damaged into at their plant in Dundee.

All 3 charges point out Pettigrew gave consent for this to materialize in his position as managing director of the agency and that it was ‘attributable to neglect’ on his aspect.

It is claimed they breached regulations under the 1999 Air pollution Avoidance and Management (Scotland) Act.

He also denies that he refused or unsuccessful to offer environmental officers access to HES crops in Dundee and Shotts.

Pettigrew was the taking care of director of the firm which went into liquidation in April 2019 just after losing NHS contracts.

Scottish Setting Defense Agency (SEPA) employee David Smith found 3 trailers at Dundee web site

Smith told the demo he considered Pettigrew was ‘integral’ to the running of the internet site just before it ceased functioning in December 2018.

He said: ‘There were three trailers on the web page and they all contained clinical squander.

‘We discovered that gates to the web site had been opened and we wanted to make confident that these trailers remained protected.

‘One of the trailers experienced been opened and you could see blister packs and other health care waste in the rear of it so it was clearly no more time protected.

‘After we left the web-site, we contacted the police to tell them of what had took place at the web-site.’

Smith also claimed to have uncovered tubs of professional medical squander staying stored within the plant through a later on check out to the internet site in February 2019.

A collection of shots demonstrating the trailers and tubs of waste were being shown to the court docket.

Pettigrew was the taking care of director of the firm which went into liquidation in April 2019 after shedding NHS contracts.

The trial before Sheriff Liam Murphy proceeds.