The Central Criminal Police announced on Monday that it had completed a long preliminary investigation into three serious environmental crimes related to illegal waste transportation between Finland and Estonia.
NBI suspects that six individuals and seven companies from both countries participated in environmental crimes jointly investigated by the Finnish and Estonian authorities.
Finnish cases are being taken to prosecutors in southern Finland for prosecution, NBI said.
The first investigation involved the shipment of 70 construction waste, a total of about 1,700 tonnes, from Finland to Estonia without the required permits. The alleged shipments took place from May to October 2019, until the shipping company was caught.
The Finnish authorities became aware of the illegal shipments in the autumn when they were contacted by the Estonian authorities about a shipment of waste delivered from Finland to the port of Tallinn which did not correspond to the shipment documents presented to them.
According to the NBI, the documents stated that the consignment contained construction and demolition waste.
"But when it was inspected, it was found that there was waste [actually] wastes from light fraction shredding arising from the mechanical treatment of construction and demolition waste,"The NBI press release said.
The transport of this type of waste requires a separate permit because the waste cannot be recycled in the same way as construction and demolition waste, the law enforcement agency explained.
At the request of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), the NBI opened a preliminary investigation into the matter on suspicion of gross damage to the environment.
More than 1,500 tons of toxic waste oil
At the start of the investigation, the NBI said it had found evidence that the suspects had also transported about 860 tonnes of transformer oil classified as hazardous waste from Finland to Estonia between May 2018 and November 2019. The discovery prompted SYKE to request additional funding. investigation, as a result of which NBI suspected a Finnish operator of a serious crime of serious damage to the environment.
The third suspected crime involved 26 illegal shipments, a total of about 670 tonnes of waste oil from Estonia to Finland.
A separate Finnish company informed SYKE about the transfers after discovering in an internal audit that it had received waste oil from Estonia in April-May 2020. Referring to SYKE, NBI stated that the company that had transported the oil waste had not applied for the required permit.
The company that reported the shipments of waste oil is not suspected of any crime, according to the head of the NBI’s senior police chief. Lauri Pajunoja.
The suspects denied the allegations
A total of six people are suspected of crimes in Finland and seven companies operating in Finland and Estonia are directly involved in crimes, the NBI said.
District Prosecutor of the Estonian Northern District Prosecutor’s Office, Jรผrgen Hรผvasaid current and former board members of the companies under investigation are suspected "acted consciously and together to avoid the costs of waste shipments," According to the NBI.
"All suspects deny having committed the relevant crimes," NBI’s Willows said in a statement.
The NBI opinion stated that the laws on waste treatment and transportation aim to prevent risks or hazards to public health and to minimize the impact on the environment.
"When waste is shipped without a permit or on the basis of an incorrect permit, the authorities cannot assess the treatment of the shipped waste or the potential risks to the environment. This poses a risk that the waste will not be treated properly," Willows said in a statement.
Source: The Nordic Page