16/05/2005 - A Cornish
clay company was today ordered to pay £2,488
in fines and costs for polluting the Polgooth
Stream near St Austell with china clay. The
case brought by the Environment Agency.
On Sep 14, 2004 Imerys contacted the Environment
Agency to report a pollution incident at Poltarrow
Farm, St Mewan, St Austell. An Agency officer
arrived at the site and found liquid clay
had leaked from a valve chamber on the Blackpool
and Par pipeline.
A court heard how an estimated 50 tonnes
of clay escaped into the watercourse. The
discharge lasted approximately 30 minutes.
The nearby Polgooth Stream was heavily discoloured
for 2 km to the point where it joins the St
Austell River. Imerys staff were on site clearing
up when Environment Agency officers arrived.
The cause of the spill was a ‘catastrophic
failure’ of a butterfly valve in the pipeline
chamber. Imerys could not explain why the
valve blew. It was the first time such an
incident had occurred on this section of pipe.
It was not possible to clean-up or contain
the clay once in watercourse because of the
size of the stream and rate of flow.
"This was a large spill that resulted
in a significant quantity of clay escaping
into a stream. While the impact was mainly
visual, clay can seriously harm the ecology
of a river. Fish can be injured or asphyxiated
by the fine clay particles and clay will smother
a riverbed, killing freshwater creatures and
fish eggs that form a vital part in the food
chain," said Steve Clark for the Environment
Agency.
Appearing before East Cornwall Magistrates
at Liskeard today, Imerys Minerals pleaded
guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting
matter to enter controlled waters, namely
a tributary of the Polgooth Stream contrary
to Section 85(1) and Section 85(6) of the
Water Resources Act 1991. The company was
fined £2,0000 and ordered to pay £488
costs.
