04/11/2005 - A gross organic pollution affecting 3.5 kilometres of drain in the Fens was caused by a damaged section of pipe used to inject vegetable washings to farm land.
Kevin McPartlin pleaded guilty at Peterborough Magistrates Court today (Thurs) to polluting a drain leading to the Twelve Foot Drain and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,884 costs.
McPartlin, in partnership with his son, operates a business of waste disposal by means of subsoil injection. He collects waste from the potato washing process at McCains foods to inject into farm land that the business owns at Farcet Fen, near Peterborough.
The waste water is stored in a 340,000 gallon tank where it settles before being pumped to various parts of the farm by a system of pipes, most of which are underground. But one of the pipes used to transport the waste water onto the land split allowing it to escape into the ditch.
Some of the pipes, including the damaged section, were not buried and in this case were laid along dry drainage ditches.
The court said McPartlin had failed to investigate properly when there was an indication of a leak by a drop in the flow rate of the liquid being pumped through the pipes. If action had been taken he could have prevented or limited the pollution.
The court also found that it was a risky strategy to place a pipe carrying toxic material in a watercourse, even though the watercourse was dry at the time.
A local farmer noticed smelly water close to Underwood’s pumping station in August last year. He reported it to the Whittlesey Internal Drainage Board (IDB) which investigated and found the source to be Farcet Fen.
The Twelve Foot Drain was grey, thick and sludgy and the drain leading into it contained a hardened sludge with no water.
Underneath the thick layer of sludge there was a hidden pipe, a section of which was completely torn across its width. It was later established by experts that it was definitely a tear and not a cut. It could not have been done by hand.
The level of pollution caused by the leaked vegetable wash was grossly polluting being equivalent to that caused by raw sewage, wiping out the invertebrate fauna and even killing the plants and algae in the worst affected stretches.
Kevin McPartlin pleaded guilty to: On or about 16 August 2004 caused poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter controlled waters, namely an unnamed drain leading to the Twelve Foot Drain, and waters downstream thereof at Farcet Fen in the county of Cambridgeshire. Contrary to section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991.
After the hearing investigating Environment Agency officer Melanie Cornwell said:
‘The break in the pipe resulted in a considerable stretch of watercourse being polluted, which could have been prevented or minimised with greater vigilance.
‘The placing of a pipe carrying polluting material in a watercourse is plainly a high risk strategy. I would recommend that all businesses consider the location of potentially polluting equipment and review their processes accordingly.’
Miss Cornwell also said: ‘The Agency received full co-operation with the investigation and Mr McPartlin took action immediately to limit the effect of the pollution, once discovered.’