Company director escapes pollution prosecution

The Sheffield-based business, Oceanic (UK), ran a scrap-yard for ships at Battleship Wharf on the river Blyth. In January, while it was dismantling a Russian submarine, there was a substantial release of oil from the site. Hundreds of ducks and swans were contaminated and a rescue operation was launched by conservationists. In April, the NRA was forced to surround the site with booms to contain a second oil spill, this time from the bulk of a