12/01/2006 - On Monday 9 January 2006, Edima Limited pleaded
guilty at Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates to a charge of causing
polluting matter, in this instance the liquid by-product
of rotted potato peelings, to enter the Langley Brook.
The charge was brought by the Environment Agency under
Section 85 of the Water Resources Act 1991. The company
was fined £5000 and ordered to pay costs of £1175.36p.
Speaking after the case, Steve Fowler, an Environment Agency
officer involved in the investigation, said: ‘Organic matter
such as the by-product of rotted potato peelings can seriously
damage water quality and affect wildlife if it gets into
a watercourse. Therefore the company has a responsibility
to ensure this does not get into the environment – it failed
to do this, resulting in a costly and damaging pollution.
We will not hesitate in taking action against those responsible
for such pollutions.’
For the Environment Agency, Claire Andrews told the court
that on 9 June 2005 an Environment Agency officer attended
a stretch of the Langley Brook off London Road, Middleton
near Tamworth.
He inspected the brook as it ran at the back of the premises
of Edima Ltd, which processes potatoes. He found that bed
of the brook was extensively covered in sewage fungus. He
walked approximately 200m upstream and saw a pipe discharging
a black liquid into the brook.
The officer had previously seen a lagoon located on Edima
Ltd’s premises. It contained a black liquid and the liquid
being discharged from the pipe had the same smell as the
one being stored in the lagoon.
Samples were taken of discharge and the brook up and downstream
of the discharge. No sewage fungus was seen upstream of
the discharge. Later testing of these samples indicated
low oxygen and high ammonia levels.
The officer inspected the lagoons on the Edima Ltd site
and found that the one containing the black liquid had an
outlet pipe which ran into the fields next to it and towards
the Langley Brook.
The Environment Agency officer checked plans for the drainage
system and it became apparent that the field which the drain
fed into contained numerous land drains.
On 12 June 2005, the Environment Agency officer returned
to the site. The pipe seen discharging on 9 June 2005 had
been blocked off and no discharge was seen. On 21 June 2005
a further inspection was carried out and again no discharge
was seen and the brook was seen to be unpolluted.
In mitigation Andrew Louka, Director, said that the company
had always
followed Environment Agency recommendations regarding improvements
and had invested in improvements to their operating systems
to prevent a recurrence.
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