WARRINGTON COMPANY FINED AFTER OIL POLLUTION INCIDENT

Environmental Panorama
London – UK
July of 2005

 

22/07/2005 - A Warrington company was fined £13,000 yesterday (Tuesday) after an oil spill polluted a brook and killed water birds.
Generator Power Limited, which provides diesel generators for hire, was also ordered to pay £1,720 in costs.

The oil entered Spittle Brook in April 2004, after vandals broke into Generator Power’s premises off Pipe Lane, Woolston over the Easter weekend and released about 2,000 litres of gas fuel oil, also known as red diesel, from containers.

The oil entered the drains on site which are part of the surface water drainage system and therefore discharge into rivers and streams – rather than the foul sewer system which takes effluent away to be treated.

Although the company had equipment for dealing with small spills and has a stand-by arrangement with a clean-up contractor in place, there were no safeguards to contain larger spills. The company had not investigated what would happen to any oil that got into the on-site drains.

As a result, Generator Power had not been aware that oil spilled on its premises could get into rivers and streams and had not contacted the Environment Agency about the incident.

A representative of the company had been to the site earlier in the day and done some cleaning up of the premises using the equipment available. However, further clean-up was required as there was oil on the yard near the drains connecting to the surface water system.

The spill was reported to the Environment Agency on Easter Sunday by a local Park Ranger on 0800 80 70 60, the Environment Agency’s free 24-hour emergency hotline number after a concerned member of the public saw what appeared to be red diesel or gas oil in Spittle Brook. The oil was apparently coming from a surface water drainage outfall, intended to discharge clean, uncontaminated surface water.

An Environment Agency officer attended the incident and had to call in our emergency workforce team to start cleaning up the brook. Generator Power then arranged for its contractor to attend and take over the extensive clean-up work that was needed. Generator Power paid for this work.

Oil affected several birds on the brook and the RSPCA and Woolston Park rangers had to rescue four of them. Despite the RSPCA’s best efforts to clean and treat the birds, two of them – a mallard and a moorhen – died.

When Environment Agency officers interviewed a representative of Generator Power, he said that the company was aware of its legal responsibility to store oil safely and responsibly. However, it had stored oil close to surface water drains and had not installed any form of barrier to contain accidental spillage.

Jane Morgan, prosecuting, told Warrington Magistrates’ Court that although Generator Power had been a victim of vandalism, it was not the first time that the company’s property had been broken into - three recent incidents should have suggested to the company that it was vulnerable to break-ins, even though the previous break-ins had resulted in theft rather than vandalism.

The company had not taken steps to ensure it met the standards required for oil storage and failed to investigate the site's drainage arrangements. Generator Power’s failure to store oil appropriately had caused a significant incident on Spittle Brook and resulted in harm to its wildlife.

For media enquiries please contact the press office on
01925 542201 or 01925 542512
Out of hours, please call 01925 629469 and ask for the duty press officer

Notes to editors:

Companies looking for advice on oil storage can contact the Environment Agency on 08708 506506.
Generator Power Limited, registered at Foxbridge Way, Normanton, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to the following offence:
On or about 11 April 2004 caused polluting matter to enter controlled waters, namely Spittle Brook, Woolston, Warrington, contrary to section 85(1) and section 85(6) of the Water Resources Act 1991 Fined £13,000

 
 

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

 
 
 
 

 

Universo Ambiental  
 
 
 
 
     
VEJA
NOTÍCIAS AMBIENTAIS
DIVERSAS
Acesse notícias variadas e matérias exclusivas sobre diversos assuntos socioambientais.

 
 
 
 
Conheça
Conteúdo
Participe
     
Veja as perguntas frequentes sobre a Agência Ecologia e como você pode navegar pelo nosso conteúdo.
Veja o que você encontrará no acervo da Agência Ecologia. Acesse matérias, artigos e muito mais.
Veja como você pode participar da manutenção da Agência Ecologia e da produção de conteúdo socioambiental gratuito.
             
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
     
ACESSE O UNIVERSO AMBIENTAL
DE NOTÍCIAS
Veja o acervo de notícias e matérias especiais sobre diversos temas ambientais.

 
 
 
 
Compromissos
Fale Conosco
Pesquise
     
Conheça nosso compromisso com o jornalismo socioambiental independente. Veja as regras de utilização das informações.
Entre em contato com a Agência Ecologia. Tire suas dúvidas e saiba como você pode apoiar nosso trabalho.
A Agência Ecologia disponibiliza um banco de informações ambientais com mais de 45 mil páginas de conteúdo online gratuito.
             
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Agência Ecologia
     
DESTAQUES EXPLORE +
SIGA-NOS
 

 

 
Agência Ecologia
Biodiversidade Notícias Socioambientais
Florestas Universo Ambiental
Avifauna Sobre Nós
Oceano Busca na Plataforma
Heimdall Contato
Odin Thor
  Loki
   
 
Direitos reservados. Agência Ecologia 2024-2025. Agência Ambiental Pick-upau 1999-2025.