Apollo Court, 2 Bishops Square Business Park, St Albans Road West, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9EX.

Customer services line: 08708 506 506

Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Mr. Ewan Larcombe

Via email

ewan@jubileeriver.co.uk

Our ref: NE29480 BC

Date: 13 December 2011

Dear Mr. Larcombe

RE: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) /

Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)

We refer to your request for information about the pollution incident at Kingsmead

Quarry, Horton, Berkshire dated 5 December 2011.

Requests for information that is recorded are generally governed by the Freedom of

Information Act 2000 (FOIA).  The information you have requested is environmental

and it is therefore exempted from the provisions of FOIA by FOIA s.39(1). We have

therefore considered your request under the provisions of the Environmental

Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). EIR regulation 12 allows a public authority to

refuse to disclose environmental information if an exception to disclosure applies

under paragraphs (4) or (5) and in all the circumstances of the case, the public

interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the

information. A public authority shall apply a presumption in favour of disclosure.

The case is still with our Legal Team who are looking into the appropriate form of

action. As such, we are still unable to provide you with any information.

We have withheld the following information: The information requested about

Kingsmead Quarry, Horton.

The exceptions that apply to this information are:

EIR Regulation 12(5)(b) applies because disclosure would adversely affect the

course of justice, the ability of a person to receive a fair trial or the ability of a public

authority to conduct an inquiry of a criminal or disciplinary nature, specifically with

this information.

2

We have weighed the public interest factors in favour of maintaining the exceptions

and find that they outweigh the public interest factors in disclosing the information. In

carrying out the public interest test we have considered:

The Environment Agency would only withhold information if it is sure that disclosure

would cause substantial harm.

The release of information would be likely to cause a criminal investigation and

prosecution to fail, for abuse of process and the inability for there to be a fair trial.

Disclosure would adversely affect the course of justice, the ability of a person to

receive a fair trial or the ability of a public authority to conduct an inquiry of a criminal

or disciplinary nature, specifically with this information. We recognise your particular

concerns regarding the pollution incident at Kingsmead Quarry in Horton. We are

currently carrying out an investigation on this site. This involves us collecting

information and evidence that we may use if we take forward any enforcement

action. As such, we are unable to provide you with this information as it may

prejudice our investigation.

As indicated, upon assessing the factors in the public interest test, we have

assessed that in relation to the requested information that form part of the

investigation, the factors in favour of withholding information outweigh the public

interest factors in disclosing the information.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your request for information, you can

contact us to ask for our decision to be reviewed. If you are still not satisfied

following this, you can make an appeal to the Information Commissioner, who is the

statutory regulator for Freedom of Information. The address is: Office of the

Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9

5AF .

Tel: 01625 545700.

Fax: 01625 524 510.

E-mail:mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Direct dial 01707 632302

Direct fax 01707 632 610