The Environment Agency served an enforcement notice against Rhondda, telling it to comply with its licence terms, under s.33(6), Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The administrator asked the court to clarify whether the Environment Agency needed leave under the Insolvency Act 1986, s.10(1)(c) and s.11(3)(d) to bring criminal prosecutions.
[1] The purpose of the Insolvency Act 1986 was to give a window of opportunity for the company to make proposals to creditors.
Scott Baker J also referred to remarks by Morritt J in the Re Celtic Extraction case, on the “polluter pays” principle.
The allegations of Rhondda's serious and long standing breaches of the Environmental Protection Act should not be overridden by creditors' interests.