The Stornoway Gazette reports that Calmax Construction Company, based in Lewis, were fined a total of £10,000 for waste and pollution charges.

It seems that Calmax were demolishing a house and the rubble left over contained a substantial amount of asbestos. Rather than, I don’t know, calling in some experts to get rid of this hazardous substance safely, Calmax decided to simply burn it. Their crime was only detected by the eagle eyes of “a passing officer” from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Am I alone in thinking that the fine in this case is not set at a level likely to deter? I don’t know what the going rate is for safely disposing of a houseful of asbestos, but I reckon that it’s expensive enough to make an asbestosis bonfire a profitable venture at that level of fine. To my mind the directors of the company should be ordered by the court to eat anything they haven’t disposed of correctly.

The image shows a close up of asbestos (when not on fire).