Business Link West Yorkshire partners with PPL for

Business Link West Yorkshire partners with PPL for environmental consultancy Opportunity for West Yorkshire SMEs to get up to £2500 of free environmental and pollution prevention consultancy. Open to all SMEs until end January 2005 then Objective 2 areas only. Business Link West Yorkshire and PPL- Pollution Prevention team up to provide a grant supported Pollution Prevention Survey service aimed at recent changes in the oil storage regulations. The comprehensive service covers all aspects of a company's oil, solvent and chemical storage and usage, its site and preparedness to deal with any incident. Vulnerable areas will be identified. Background Since its formation Andel Ltd had developed a considerable corporate customer base much of which was already buying our environmental products and services. P.P.L adopted an existing customer base and also gained access to the rest of Andel's customer base. Generally we find that many companies, large and small, have wide gaps in their knowledge of the various environmental regulations and many are anxious to get an overview of the problems at any of their sites and an idea of what has to be to avoid accidents, incidents and ultimately prosecution. Our long history of work in this area gives us considerable knowledge and resource in respect of the regulations, guidelines and codes of practice and we had been a consultee over the preparation of the 2001 DEFRA Oil Storage Regulations. Also being a manufacturer in our own right gives us first-hand knowledge of some of the problems faced by industrial companies and we are therefore in a very good position to provide sound, common sense and effective advice. The Regulations In 2001 17% of all reported pollution incidents involved oil as did 26% of the most serious water pollution incidents. Oil is one of the biggest single and most identifiable causes of pollution and so forms the basis of many of the regulations. Leaking underground tanks, un-bunded above ground tanks, inadequate storage facilities, vandalism, poor management practices and human error are the main causes of oil pollution. The UK Government is required by EU directives to prevent pollution of the water environment rather than to treat pollution after the event. The Environment Agency, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency & Northern Ireland Environment & Heritage service are tasked with reducing the number of water-pollution incidents by half and are keen to enforce new regulations. The DEFRA Oil Storage Regulations (2001) implement & enhance EU directives and strengthen the long standing Pollution Prevention Guidelines. The 1998 Groundwater Regulations have been in force for some time and still act as the "catch-all" on which many prosecutions will be based following a pollution incident.

For more information on Business Link West Yorkshire partners with PPL for talk to Andel Ltd