17/02/2005 - The Environment
Agency has successfully prosecuted Southern
Water for a large diesel oil spill that
occurred in March last year. The Water Utility
was ordered to pay a fine of £7,000and
costs of a further £4,780 at Maidstone
Magistrates Court yesterday (Wednesday 16
February).
The oil leaked out of a 27,000-litre capacity
storage tank at Southern Water’s Waste Water
Treatment Works in Bull Lane, Aylesford.
The oil is usually used to power a boiler
on the site, which heats the sludge digester.
On 26 March 2004, Southern Water contacted
the Environment Agency when, it seemed that
17,000 litres of diesel oil had been lost
into the ground. Contractors, employed by
Southern Water, dug a number of trial pits
and boreholes into the surrounding sandstone
to try and find the oil. When an Environment
Agency officer visited the site, he noticed
that two of the trial pits contained a red
fluid and smelt of oil.
Further investigations by the Environment
Agency revealed that the pipe between the
oil tank and the boiler was corroded and
that this was the likely cause of the leak.
Southern Water then mounted an extensive
campaign to recover the spilt oil from the
groundwater beneath the Waste Water Treatment
works.
When interviewed, Southern Water claimed
that they were considering action against
the contractor who installed the pipework
as a section of it was only given one layer
of protection and it was this section which
corroded and caused the oil leak. The company
also admitted that there was a faulty gauge
on the tank, which showed it to be half
full even though it was completely empty.
Roger Kidd, the Environment Agency officer
in charge of the investigation said:
"The pollution incident at Southern
Water’s Aylesford site was caused by a series
of errors, that could have been easily prevented.
"Southern Water failed to monitor
the installation effectively. It had no
system in place to check oil deliveries
or tank levels, and so took several days
to identify the leak. The company had identified
that the installation was in a sensitive
location, between two industrial abstraction
points, and that improved management of
the facility and an inspection and maintenance
programme for the pipes was required.
M/F
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PROSECUTES SOUTHERN
WATER FOR OIL POLLUTION/2…
"The company failed to put this into
practice despite direct knowledge of the
consequence of such incidents, following
a similar incident at Andover 12 months
earlier for which they were prosecuted by
the Environment Agency.
"We would also like to use this opportunity
to remind any businesses or householders
with oil storage tanks to make sure that
all tanks and pipe work are well maintained
to prevent similar incidents happening in
future. Oil spills are very difficult, and
expensive to clean up and can cause long-term
damage to the surrounding environment."
The majority of industrial, commercial
and institutional sites that store more
than 200 litres of oil will be required
to comply with the Oil Storage Regulations
which come into full force on the 1st September
2005.
In mitigation, Southern Water said that
they responded quickly to the oil leak,
spent more than £200,000 clearing
up the spill and the environmental effect
of the leak was minimal.
The court said that Southern Water should
have checked the work carried out by its
contractors and highlighted the previous
similar incidents. However, it took into
account the prompt action to minimise the
effects of the leak and that the incident
was not deliberate, but careless.
