CHESTER COMPANY FINED £ 12,000 FOR POLLUTION
Magistrates have fined a company a total of £ 12,000 after it pleaded guilty to failing to prevent the escape of waste from its control and polluting the Bradley Brook in Appleton, near Warrington.
Trade Effluent Services Limited, of High Street, Tattenhall, Chester, was also ordered to pay £ 3,808.83 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.
Sue Tysoe, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told Warrington magistrates how Agency officer Simon Crozier was called to examine a pond at Beehive Farm on Barley Castle Lane in Appleton, which on 7 February 1999 had turned black due to a dark ink-like substance being discharged into it from a highway drain.
The court heard that Bradley Brook was similarly contaminated. A liquor consistent with that in the Brook and pond was found to be entering a highway drain under a mobile tank owned by Trade Effluent Services, who had been spreading waste on a nearby field. Mr Crozier found that liquor was entering the drain by running off the compacted field, and from a spillage around the tank. Tests confirmed that the highway drain connected to the pond at Beehive Farm. Liquor had also run off the field into a ditch tributary of Bradley Brook and then into the Brook itself.
The court heard that when Trade Effluent Services was notified of the problem, its staff co-operated with the Agency in undertaking necessary remedial measures.
Magistrates were told that the company confirmed that it finished spreading on 6 February and that no pollution of nearby watercourses had been seen by its staff. There had been rain later that day but the court was told that data from the Agency’s rainfall station less than two miles away showed that it was not significant for the time of year.
Beehive Farm pond initially appeared to be recovering, but on 22 February, fish in the pond were found to be suffering from oxygen deprivation.
The court heard that at the Agency’s request, Trade Effluent Services drained the pond and undertook a fish rescue.
Note:
Trade Effluent Services of Pluto House, High Street, Tattenhall, Chester, pleaded guilty to two charges and were fined £ 4,000 and £ 8,000 respectively. They were ordered to pay £ 3,808.83 costs to the Environment Agency. The charges were:
On or about 6 February 1999 at Appleton, as a disposer of controlled waste, it failed to comply with the duty imposed by section 34(1)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by failing to take reasonable measures to prevent the escape of waste from its control contrary to section 34(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
On or about 6 February 1999 at Appleton, it caused polluting matter to enter controlled waters, namely a ditch tributary of Bradley Brook, contrary to section 85(1) and section 85(6) of the Water Resources Act 1991.
NORTH MANCHESTER COMPANY FINED £ 7,500 FOR POLLUTING BROOK
Magistrates have fined a company £ 7,500 for causing disinfectant to enter a tributary leading to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal from its premises at Windermere Avenue, Burnley.
Robert McBride Limited, of Middleton Way, Middleton, in Manchester, was also ordered to pay £ 1,102.31 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.
Jane Morgan, prosecuting for the Agency, told Reedley magistrates that on 26 March 1999, the Agency was contacted by the company who reported that approximately two tonnes of green pine disinfectant had been lost from its site into surface water drains and a storm drain, which discharges into the nearby canal, via a brook.
The court heard that Agency officers investigated and found the brook was foaming and a strong smell of pine disinfectant was present. Action was taken by the company to block the brook to prevent any further discharge to the canal and to pump the contaminated water into a tank for disposal.
Agency staff found a number of fish were floating on the surface of the canal along a 50 metre stretch. Approximately 50 freshwater fish died as a result of the pollution. All invertebrate life in the brook leading to the canal had also been killed.
The court heard that the incident had occurred because of a switch failure, which had resulted in an overflow of disinfectant entering the site surface water drains leading to the brook.
Magistrates heard that the Agency established that there was no alarm in the tank containing the disinfectant to warn if over pumping was about to occur. However, following the incident high-level alarms had been installed on all tanks to provide notification of risk of overfilling. The company had also taken action to ensure that discharges could not reach the surface water drains.
Mrs Morgan told the court that the company had been prosecuted previously for two incidents at its site at Middleton, near Manchester. The Agency believed the similarities between the incidents should have focused the company’s attention to the implications of pump failure and potential impact on nearby watercourses.
Note:
Robert McBride Limited of Middleton Way, Middleton, Manchester, pleaded guilty that on or about 26 March 1999 the Company caused polluting matter to enter a tributary of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal from premises at Windermere Avenue, Burnley, contrary to section 85(1) and (6) of the Water Resources Act 1991.
The company was fined £ 7500 and ordered to pay costs of £ 1,102.31
