Mike
Dunning - 12-Oct-2006 - A Truro-based building
company and its director were today ordered to
pay £1,893 in fines and costs after oil
escaped from a builder’s yard into a tributary
of the River Carnon. The case was brought by the
Environment Agency.
The spill was reported to the
Agency on March 14, 2006 by a member of the public.
Arriving at the riverside an Agency officer could
immediately smell fuel and saw an iridescent sheen
on the surface of the water.
The officer walked approximately
500 metres upstream to a point where a small tributary
joined the River Carnon. The stream was heavily
contaminated with oil. The pollution was traced
to a surface water discharge pipe coming from
Abbey Builders Contractors.
The officer placed several large
booms and oil absorbent pads at the lower end
of the tributary to prevent further pollution
of the River Carnon. At the height of the incident
it is estimated the oil was washed at least 1.5
kilometres downstream.
The site owner, Mr John Chapman,
admitted there had been a diesel spill in the
yard the previous day. He was filling his truck
with fuel when he was distracted by a phone call.
He mistakenly thought he had switched off the
fuel nozzle, but it remained on and overflowed.
He was later alerted a member of staff.
Chapman said he had no idea
how much diesel was lost. He cleaned up the yard
as best he could, but didn’t think to trace where
the diesel had gone. Magistrates heard there were
several large fuel storage tanks in the yard at
Abbey Builders Contractors and that the fuel storage
arrangements on the site failed to comply with
oil storage regulations. When questioned, Chapman
was unaware of the requirement to have a nozzle
with an auto shut-off device.
‘This was an accidental spill,
but easily preventable. It would not have occurred
had the site complied with the appropriate storage
regulations’ said Redwynn Sterry for the Environment
Agency.
‘Not only did the defendant
fail to alert the Agency, he was also neglectful
in dealing with the consequences of the spill.
It is possible the pollution was far worse than
observed as 16 hours had elapsed between the spill
and a member of the public reporting it.’
Appearing before Camborne magistrates,
John Chapman of Carnon Valley, Carnon Downs,
Truro and Abbey Builders Contractors of 25 Lemon
Street, Truro, were fined a total of £1069
and ordered to pay £824 costs after pleading
guilty to permitting poisonous, noxious or polluting
matter to enter controlled waters contrary to
section 85(1) and Section 85(6) of the Water Resources
Act 1991 and to breaching the Control of Pollution
(Oil Storage)(England) Regulations 2001 in that
an automatic shut-off device to a fuel delivery
pipe was not fitted.
