A Flintshire firm and its directors are set to face court action after a huge warehouse blaze in Saltney.
Lancashire Fuels 4U Ltd, which is based on River Lane, and its three directors – Richard Baison, Peter Ogg and Claire Smith – are charged with ‘treating controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health’.
The charges, which were brought by Natural Resources Wales, come following revelations that the fuels company ignored a notice to move tonnes of recycled waste at the warehouse just months before it erupted into flames.
The company appealed against the notice and legal proceedings were still ongoing at the time of the blaze
Fire crews were called to the site early one morning in May after black smoke was seen billowing into the sky.
At the height of the flames, 30 firefighters from eight different crews were at the scene pumping water from the River Dee to deal with the fire and damp down the building which was heavily damaged.
Some crews remained at the warehouse more than a week later, and were called back in June after the recyclable waste began smouldering again.
A preliminary hearing was held at Mold Crown Court earlier this week and was adjourned by Judge Niclas Parry until August when the company and its directors will be expected to enter pleas.
A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales said the charges brought forward are based on all evidence collected by the authority, including the fire.
They said that a notice was served to the company last December and has been listed for a plea and case management hearing on August 29 in Caernarfon.
On its website Lancashire Fuels 4 U describes itself as: “Leaders in high calorific biomass solid fuel generation, from sustainable sources, that do not require the felling of trees, which can no longer be considered a sustainable resource.”
The company arrived at the old Bostik’s plant at the end of last year and began bringing in a ‘substantial amount’ of waste material with the local authority receiving ‘a few odour complaints’, according to the council report to the planning committee.
