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
