19/05/2005 - Redditch
Magistrates on 18 May 2005 fined a Beoley-based
slaughterhouse £5000 for polluting a
Worcestershire Brook.
Beoley-based Attwells Limited pleaded guilty
to a charge of causing trade effluent, in
this instance water contaminated with waste,
from its site to enter the Beoley Brook between
16 December 2003 and 21 January 2004.
The charge was brought by the Environment
Agency under Section 85 of the Water Resources
Act 1991. The company was ordered to pay £1477.60p
costs.
Speaking after the case, Richard Silver,
an Environment Agency officer involved in
the investigation, said: "There are strict
rules governing the land-spreading of organic
waste. In order to protect the environment
these must be followed at all times.
‘Attwells failed to do this, resulting in
a persistent and highly polluting problem.
We are pleased that the case has been brought
to court. Companies intending to land-spread
waste should contact our customer contact
number on 08708 506 506 to find out how this
should be done properly.’
For the Environment Agency, David Rees told
the court that Attwells Ltd is a poultry abbatoir
and processing company operating two premises
from Seafield Farm, Seafield Lane, Beoley,
Worcestershire.
On 16 December 2003, an Environment Agency
officer attended a pollution incident on a
brook near Cherry Pit Lane, which is near
Attwells Limited’s site. He found that the
brook was coloured brown and smelt strongly
of farm effluent. The stretch of brook downstream
showed signs of long-term pollution, with
the bed being covered with sewage fungus.
The Environment Agency officers discovered
that the polluting effluent was coming from
a spray irrigator in a field owned by Attwell’s
Limited. The effluent was running off the
field, which was waterlogged and partially
frozen.
The following day, 17 December 2003, officers
from the Environment Agency revisited the
site and observed that the irrigation was
continuing and that the contaminated run-off
was evident.
The officers observed that this material
smelt of a putrid odour and sewage fungus
was also present on the bed of the brook.
The company were told again to stop irrigating
and tanker away the effluent.
On 21 January 2004, the Environment Agency
received another complaint from a member of
the public that the pollution was still occurring.
Environment Agency officers attended the
scene and took samples. The pollution caused
serious environmental damage to the brook
due to Attwell Limited’s failure to monitor
its work.
In mitigation, the solicitor representing
the company told the court that the company
had no previous conviction recorded against
them and asked that Attwell Limited’s early
guilty plea to be taken into consideration.
That the company are still working with the
Environment Agency to improve future disposal
methods for the waste water on the farm.
