West Yorkshire company fined for river pollution
A packing company based in Huddersfield has been fined after pleading guilty to illegally discharging bleach.
In September 2021, bleach (sodium hypochlorite) escaped after a wooden pallet collapsed. The spilt bleach was flushed into surface water drains, discharging into the River Holme where it meets the River Colne in Huddersfield.
The court heard the liquid was stored in containers, with those containing liquids are stored inside the warehouse and empty containers outside. The company explained there had been a spillage of bleach inside the warehouse, which happened when a wooden pallet the containers were stacked on gave way, resulting in some of them toppling and spilling. The contents went down a manhole cover in the warehouse.
The incident was not reported to the Environment Agency because the company thought the manhole led to the foul sewer. An Environment Agency officer used green dye to trace the discharge from the manhole, confirming it was a surface water drain that led to the river.
Over 800 dead fish were counted three kilometres downstream in the River Colne, as well as dead aquatic invertebrates.
While the court agreed the incident was negligent, it accepted there were mitigating circumstances including that the company co-operated fully with the investigation, carried out a clean-up and has since taken steps around storage and operation to prevent it happening again in the future. The court accepted the offence was not commercially motivated.
Breach
Liquipak Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016:
Penalty
Liquipak Ltd was fined of £2,666.67 after being given credit for an early guilty plea in addition to £6,307 in costs and a victim’s surcharge.
Man from South Wales guilty of waste offences
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has prosecuted a man for storing quantities of waste at a site in Caerleon without an environmental permit.
NRW officers first visited the site in April 2023, after receiving reports of illegal waste activity. Upon arrival they found quantities of mixed waste, including soil, stones, bricks and construction/demolition waste, as well as wood, plastic, and tyres. No waste exemptions or environmental permits were in place authorising any kind of waste activity at the site.
The man was served with a notice requiring the waste to be removed. He was also informed by NRW that keeping or disposing of waste on land without an environmental permit or relevant exemption was unlawful. These are offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
The man was told that no further waste was to be deposited at the location. However, during a follow up visit in November 2023, NRW officers found that the man had failed to fully comply with the notice and remove the waste.
Penalty
The man was ordered to pay a fine of £1,173. He was also ordered to pay costs of £4,140 and a victim surcharge of £469.
The man is currently a serving prisoner and the penalty will be payable upon his release.
Farmer fined for abstracting water during a drought
A Norfolk farmer with a history of environmental offending has been fined for taking and using more water than authorised, including during a summer drought.
The man held two water abstraction licences that allowed him to abstract water from the channel next to his farm. Under his winter licence, he was permitted to abstract a limited amount of water to fill a lake. Under his summer licence, he was permitted to abstract a much smaller amount and only for the purpose of crop spraying. The licences required the man to keep abstraction records and maintain abstraction meters.
Over four years, the man took three times the amount of water he was licenced to take, from a small channel next to his farm. Abstractions continued during the record-breaking hot summer of 2022, when East Anglia was officially in drought and many local water courses were dry. The man’s actions impacted water supplies for the local community.
Breaches
The man pleaded guilty of over-abstraction under both licences between 2018 and 2022. Four charges were made, concerning Section 24(1), Section 24(4) and Section 24(4)(b) of the Water Resources Act 1991:
- Section 24(1) prohibits abstractions or causing or permitting other persons to abstract water without a licence, in breach of a licence or where restrictions or drought orders are in place.
- Section 24(1) makes it an offence to contravene restrictions under Section 24(1) or Section 24(2). Section 24(4)(b) makes it an offence to not comply with corresponding conditions of a licence.
Penalty
The man received a £2,000 fine, a fine of £100 for breaching his suspended sentence, £2,000 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £200.
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