14/10/2005
- Leading UK bread makers, Allied Bakeries Ltd was fined
on 12 October after it admitted to polluting a Hertfordshire
river with waste effluent from its Stevenage bakery.
Allied Bakeries Ltd, producers of brands including Kingsmill,
Allison and Sunblest, failed to correct a connection fault
in its drainage system at its plant in Cartwright Road,
Stevenage. The misconnection allowed waste effluent to enter
a surface water drain leading to the River Beane, when it
should have gone down the foul sewer for treatment.
The waste effluent polluted the River
Beane, more than two miles away, turning it brown and
cloudy, and creating a ‘sewage-like’ smell.
The company was fined £10,000
and ordered to pay £1,656.46 costs.
Officers from the Environment Agency
first became aware of the pollution on 11 February 2005
after a member of the public reported that the river in
Walkern, near Stevenage, was discoloured, and said it
was particularly bad after heavy rainfall. When officers
inspected the river at Finches End they could not find
any trace of the pollution, but returned on 22 February
after a period of heavy snowfall.
During this visit they found the river
water had turned very brown and cloudy, with a strong
smell similar to stagnant sewage. Samples taken at the
scene revealed normal levels of ammonia, ruling out sewage
as the cause.
Officers then returned in March with
specialist contractors to trace the source of the pollution
through the surface water drainage system. The source
was traced back more than two miles to the Allied Bakeries’
plant in Cartwright Road. Investigating officers interviewed
site managers there and the company agreed to undertake
a number of improvements to prevent any waste dough from
entering the surface water drainage system.
During another site meeting on 17
March, the company informed the investigating officers
that it had recently developed an area of the site where
soya brine was being stored. They believed the drain in
this area was connected to the foul sewer for treatment,
but fluorescent dye poured down a drain there found its
way into the surface water system linked to the River
Beane.
Officers instructed the company to
seal the drain from the surface water drainage system,
and to have their waste tankered away each day until the
misconnection had been corrected.
But on 22 March 2005 the Environment
Agency received further reports that the Beane was still
being polluted. Under interview, the company said that
this incident may have been caused when one of its vehicles
was being washed towards the rear of the site, and that
if the vehicle overhangs the sealed area, some of the
waste water could have entered the surface water system.
Investigating enforcement officer
for the Environment Agency, Lisa Radwell, said: “The level
of the fine reflects the seriousness of the pollution
and sends a clear message to other companies that they
should have appropriate drainage and pollution prevention
methods in place for their operations on site. The effect
on the river could have been much greater had it not been
for the two miles of surface water drainage between the
bakery and the River Beane which helped to dilute the
pollution.”
The case was brought under section
85 of the Water Resources Act 1991.
Members of the public can report environmental
incidents to the Environment Agency by calling freephone
0800 80 70 60. |
