Panorama
 
 
 
 

NATIONAL TRUST FINED €5,000 FOR SEWAGE OFFENCE AT BODIAM CASTLE


Environmental Panorama
London – United Kingdom
April of 2006

10/04/2006 - The Environment Agency has prosecuted the National Trust for allowing sewage to leave Bodiam Castle near Robertsbridge and enter the River Rother without receiving the correct treatment.

The National Trust appeared before Hastings Magistrates Court on Monday 10 April 2006 and pleaded guilty to the offence. As a result the company was fined £5,000 and was ordered to pay costs of £720 to the Environment Agency.

Under section 85(6) of the Water Resources Act 1991, Bodiam Castle has a consent that allows for the discharge of treated sewage and effluent to the River Rother. To ensure the environment is protected, the Environment Agency sets conditions on the under which this sewage and effluent can be discharged. The National Trust, the owners of Bodiam Castle, contravened a condition of this consent.

The court heard that in August 2004 there was a meeting between the Environment Agency and the National Trust regarding the sewage treatment plant at Bodiam Castle. The Environment Agency stressed the treatment plant should be compliant by the summer of 2005, since water levels are very low in the summer and a breach of consent would therefore have had a greater impact at that time of year.

On 23 August 2005, Environment Agency Officers took a sample of the discharge from the castle’s sewage treatment plant. The sample was analysed and the Biochemical Oxygen Demand Level and the suspended solids level were both found to be nearly four times the agreed consent figure. This demonstrated that the plant could not cope during the peak period for visitors to the castle.

BOD is the measure of the amount of oxygen taken up by bacteria entering any waters. The higher the level the more oxygen is stripped from those waters to the detriment of any life which might be living in them. Suspended solids can affect photosynthesis and can smother the wildlife that live in the natural silts of the river bed.

Commenting on the case, Peter Bilbrough of the Environment Agency’s Legal team said: "This showed that once again the plant could not cope during the peak period for visitors to the castle. It therefore seems as though our warning from the year before had not been heeded.

However, visitor numbers cannot be an excuse for this breach of consent especially since in this day and age all those who handle or use polluting or potentially polluting matter are expected to take care to ensure that there is no risk that the environment will suffer."

In mitigation the National Trust said they took the matter very seriously and the organisation is spending £200,000 to rectify the problems at the sewage treatment plant as Bodiam Castle has 170,000 visitors per year. The National Trust spends £160 million per year regarding its environment management responsibilities.

The National Trust also stated that upgrading the sewage treatment works had sadly taken a long time, as there is a lengthy approval process.

The consent was originally issued to the National Trust in April 1998. It was made subject to a number of conditions one of which is that the level of Biochemical Oxygen Demand in the discharge should not exceed 20mg/l and that the level of Suspended Solids should not exceed 30mg/l. These figures are chosen by the Environment Agency bearing in mind the impact on the river and the load imposed by others who discharge effluent into this important watercourse.

Environment Agency officers took a sample of the discharge from the sewage treatment works at 13.55 hours on 23 August 2005. When analysed this showed a BOD result of 77.7mg/l and a suspended solids level of 109mg/l – both of these results being nearly four times the consented level.

In 2005 the National Trust was formally cautioned for similar matters. A formal caution was signed on behalf of the National Trust on 21 November 2005, regarding two breaches of consent at Chartwell Restaurant at Westerham in Kent. On 28 April 2005 and 5 August 2005, levels of BOD were 90.1mg/l and 91.4mg/l and suspended solids were 99mg/l and 417mg/l as against consent limits of 30mg/l BOD and 40mg/l for suspended solids.

 
 

Source: Environment Agency – United Kingdom (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk)
Press consultantship (Lucy Harding)
All rights reserved

 
 
 
 

 

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