Roger Harman

Earlier the conference had been opened, under the title 'Life, Law and Business', with a presentation from Roger Harman, Principal Officer, Incident and Emergency Planning, with the Environment Agency, who focused on the environmental consequences of pollution, particularly with reference to the importance of safely disposing of fire fighting foams.He began with a thought provoking definition of sustainability based on an ancient native American Indian proverb - "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents: it was loaned to you by your children."He explained the reasoning behind the proposed legislation to prohibit the storage and use of fluorosurfactant based fire fighting foams, concluding that pan-European legislation is likely to be introduced but that the UK will introduce legislation in April 2006, even if the EU does not.