UK - Farmer Charged in Bird Flu Case

[sharon sanders]

Farmer charged in bird flu case


<!-- S BO --><!-- S SF --> A Suffolk farmer whose business was at the centre of a bird flu outbreak has been charged with breaching regulations intended to limit its spread.
Geoffrey Buchanan, a director of Gressingham Foods, in Debach, Suffolk, is accused of breaching carcass disposal regulations.
Suffolk County Council said the charges follow the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in November 2007.
The 38-year-old is due appear at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court later.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/7549042.stm

 

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Re: UK - Farmer Charged in Bird Flu Case

Snips from the full article linked below:

Buchanan oversaw the dumping of dead carcasses from five farms into one single skip rather than disposing of them in a correct manner, the court heard today.

This was despite the skip being located just 25 metres from 4,000 turkeys and at the same time as an avian flu outbreak hit north Suffolk last year.

Magistrates at Bury St Edmunds heard that five farms operated by Woodbridge-based Gressingham Foods had suffered bird loss on an almost daily basis in November.

But rather than dispose of the carcasses in the correct manner, the dead birds were all shipped to one single place, Crackthorpe Farm in Redgrave, near Diss, and placed in a container before they were then taken away properly.

Buchanan, 38, whose legal team denied claims that he had been aware of the potential risk and had done it for any financial gain, said he had inherited practices from existing employees which he thought were legal.

He pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to how his company kept and disposed of dead birds without government approval. A further 18 offences were dropped at the start of the case.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/...gory=news&itemid=IPED08 Aug 2008 19:59:31:620