By Nishel Fernando
The Colombo Magistrate Court on Monday (10th) issued a fresh notice on Teejay Lanka PLC, one of the country’s leading textile manufacturers, to appear in court on the 19th of this month in an ongoing court case in connection to an alleged attempt to dump hazardous sludge waste, originated from a plant owned by the company, into the sea via Madampitiya pumping station, through a contracted party. 

On July 11, the police led by the Special Task Force (STF) and the Environmental Police Unit of Grandpass Police detained five bowsers allegedly containing hazardous sludge said to have originated from Teejay Lanka’s plant located at Seethawaka Industrial Estate in Avissawella, based on information passed on by the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA).
MEPA and the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) maintained that 10 bowsers containing hazardous sludge were released from this particular plant and they alleged that the hazardous sludge in the missing five bowsers had been already dumped by the time of detection. 

Consequently, the Grandpass Police filed a case against the owners of the bowsers at the Magistrate court.

Fearing the possibility of the court case getting dismissed due to lack of evidence, CEJ filed a public nuisance case at the Colombo Magistrate Court naming the owner of this sludge, Teejay Lanka PLC,  and other responsible parties as respondents and consequently the court issued a 
conditional order.

The Colombo Magistrate Court has issued several notices to Teejay Lanka to appear in court under the case filed by CEJ. However, due to delays in the court system with the COVID-19 pandemic, it was said that the notices were yet to be received by 
Teejay Lanka. 

Meanwhile, the AG’s Department has filed five separate cases for the transportation of this sludge waste against the five drivers of the detained bowsers, while withdrawing the original case filed by the Grandpass Police.

The five drivers of the detained bowsers have been released on bail. 

However, so far, the authorities have failed to bring any charges against the owners of the hazardous sludge. 

In a surprising move, during the last court hearing on Monday (10th), the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) had requested the Colombo Magistrate Court to release the five bowsers in custody back to Teejay Lanka while noting that the company had agreed to treat this waste sludge and dispose it. 

However, the lawyer, who appeared for CEJ had objected to the particular move speaking as an intermediary party on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka. 

After considering the objections, the Colombo Magistrate Court issued a fresh notice to Teejay Lanka PLC to appear in court on the next hearing date (19th). 

Speaking to Mirror Business two weeks ago, MEPA Chairperson Dharshani Lahandapura said the authority was gearing to initiate legal action against the “actual” culprit of this alleged dumping under the MEPA Act based on Attorney 

General’s advice.  She noted that under the MEPA Act, the violator could be fined between Rs.4-15 million, if convicted. 

However, MEPA had been maintaining its silence since then, while the CEA was seen taking the lead role on the matter. 

Responding to an online news article on the matter, Teejay Lanka through a Colombo Stock Exchange filing admitted that there was an inquiry by the authorities on the disposal of sludge waste by their plant, while noting that it had fruitful discussion with the Board of Investment (BOI) and CEA on the matter. 

However, the filing maintained that the company had not been called to be present before any court as of August 04. 

Meanwhile, the Colombo Magistrate Court also issued a notice of appearance to the BOI at the next court hearing, based on a AG’s Department request.