In Court with the EPA

THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency (EPA) has been busy so far this year, successfully prosecuting six companies for pollution. Some of them are unlikely to be too bothered, however. Francis and Carol Mallon in Liffey Meats (Cavan) (LMC) are old hands at this pollution business, of course, and the EPA has prosecuted their Ballyjamesduff company no less than five times. This year's skirmish with the regulations saw LMC plead guilty to three charges relating to a lack of control over emissions into a local river. This landed the company with a paltry €2,000 fine in Virginia District Court, although Judge Seán McBride did throw in the EPA's costs of €13,000.

The secretive pair moved their cash offshore to the Isle of Man recently and now own LMC through the Douglas registered Touleen Unlimited, while LMC itself went unlimited last year and no longer has to file accounts. Before these manoeuvres, Touleen Ltd - the original holding company - boasted a whopping €9.5m in accumulated profits at the end of June 2004.

Another beef baron who will be similarly untroubled by an EPA prosecution is Liam Keating, the chief sibling in the family-owned Kepak (although this is run by John Horgan). Kepak Athleague, an unlimited Roscommon-based subsidiary, recently pleaded guilty to allowing too many emissions into the nearby River Suck and also for “providing the (EPA) with information that was false or misleading in a material respect”. According to the EPA, this had the potential to contaminate the river and Judge Browne imposed fines on Kepak Athleague totalling just €4,000 and awarded the EPA costs of €6,500. This is unlikely to cost directors Keating, Horgan, Bernard Mannion and Robert Grogan too much sleep.

Dynea Ireland Ltd, meanwhile, came off slightly worse down in Cobh District Court. This subsidiary of a Finnish industrial giant was recently hit with the biggest fine of the year so far, having pleaded guilty to four charges of letting off “non-compliant emissions” into the atmosphere. The company was found guilty of not providing this info to the EPA and Judge Michael Patwell slapped a €13,000 fine on Dynea Ireland, plus €10,000 in costs. The directors here - including Tom Vestli and Ilpo Jalmari Koivisto in Finland along with local boys Joseph Giltinan and Liam Moynihan - might be slightly more worried at this setback, considering accumulated losses here were €2.9m at the end of 2005.

© The Phoenix