23/08/2005 - On Friday,
19 August 2005, Harry Fellows Jnr, of Bartley
Green, Birmingham, and his son Harry Fellows,
of Weoley Castle, Birmingam, trading as Selly
Oak Car Care, were each fined £3,000
after they pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates
to charges relating to polluting the Worcester
and Birmingham Canal with engine oil.
The Environment Agency brought the charges
under Section 85 of the Water Resources Act
1991. Harry Fellows Jnr was charged with causing
pollution and Harry Fellows, his son, was
charged with knowingly permitting the incident.
The men were ordered to pay a total amount
of £1667.92 in costs.
Speaking after the case, Gary Hankinson,
an Environment Agency officer involved in
the investigation, said: ‘Companies have a
responsibility to do all they can to prevent
polluting materials entering watercourses
from their premises. Selly Oak Car Care failed
to do so, resulting in harm to the environment
and local wildlife. We take incidents such
as these very seriously and will not hesitate
to prosecute where appropriate.’
For the Environment Agency, Kiran Cassini
told the court that Harry Fellows owns Selly
Oak Car Care and Harry Fellows Jnr, his father,
works for the company, which services and
valets cars.
On 19 May 2004, an Environment Agency officer
attended the Birmingham and Worcester canal
in response to a report from a member of the
public about oil on the surface of the canal.
A large iridescent, slick of oil with heavy
black patches had been seen affecting approximately
2km of the canal. The oil contaminated waterfowl
on the canal and affected vegetation. Investigations
indicated the source of the oil was a pipe
near Selly Wharf, Selly Oak. On 24 May 2004,
oil could still be seen discharging into the
canal.
On 26 May 2004, Environment Agency officers
saw a black liquid discharging from the pipe
into the canal. There was also a strong odour
of engine oil. Analysis of the liquid showed
it to be oil. The Environment Agency officers
traced the pipe to Selly Oak Car Care. Used
engine oil had entered a manhole chamber at
the rear of the premises. The spout of a container
of waste oil was seen to be feeding directly
into the manhole chamber, which connected
to the pipe which discharged to the canal.
In mitigation, Mr Dollery from Glaisyers,
told the court that this was an isolated incident
and that both defendants were sorry for their
actions.
The defendants were given credit for their
early guilty pleas. However, the Court stated
that the offences showed a deliberate intent
to dispose of engine oil. It was a serious
incident, which affected birds and flora in
the area.
