ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PROSECUTES SOUTHERN WATER FOR OIL POLLUTION

Environmental Panorama
London – UK
February of 2005

 

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.

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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.

 
 

Source: Environment Agency – United Kingdom (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk)
Press consultantship
(Lucy Harding)
All rights reserved

 
 
 
 

 

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