22-Jun-2006 - Important safety
guidelines on how to treat a spilt chemical were
largely ignored by three organisations, leading
to the death of thousands of fish and long term
damage to the River Blackwater.
It is also estimated that the
pollution caused by TriButyl Tin Oxide (TBTO)
wiped out tens of thousands of the fry of at least
12 species and the river in Essex may take years
to recover.
Industrial, commercial, riparian
and public uses of these waters have been affected
by the pollution and almost four years later the
biology and chemistry of the river has still not
returned to its original state.
A commercial shellfishery in
the Blackwater Estuary was closed due to the incident
and TBTO levels in some of the smaller tributaries
of the river are still above the Environmental
Quality Standard, a recognisably acceptable level.
Braintree District Council pleaded
guilty after legal submission at Chelmsford Crown
Court yesterday (Tues) of causing poisonous, noxious
or polluting matter (comprising or containing
TriButyl Tin Oxide) to enter controlled waters,
namely the River Blackwater and its tributaries
at Coggeshall, Essex between 13 July 2002 and
31 August 2002.
Woodland International Transport
Co Ltd and Rentokil Initial UK Ltd both pleaded
guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court at an earlier
hearing to the same charge.
Yesterday (Wed (21 June) Braintree
DC was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay
£38,000 costs and the other two defendants
were each fined £40,000 and ordered to pay
£33,000 costs.
The Foods Standards Agency and
Maldon District Council both stepped in to ensure
the pollution did not have an impact on areas
for which they are responsible.
The events began on the morning
of 13 July at the Anglia Cargo Terminal site at
Coggeshall when a forklift truck driver working
for Woodland, was loading drums and other freight
onto a lorry.
One drum became punctured and
the chemical spilled out. The lorry was moved
uphill to try to contain the spill but it is believed
that some fluid entered the yard.
A Dangerous Goods Note and Transport
Emergency Card relating to the containers gave
strict details on what to do in the case of a
spill. These included not using a water jet, not
flushing with water and avoiding if possible water
running into sewers.
TBTO is highly toxic (specifically
fish toxic) and spills should only be handled
by people wearing protective clothing. The emergency
services should be called in the event of a spill
and the police should be informed if the chemical
enters a watercourse or sewer or has been spilt
on soil or vegetation.
The specialist chemicals supply company was contacted
which, as well as supplying a copy of the Material
Safety Data Sheet, also sent a covering page spelling
out recommended methods of dealing with such spillages.
In particular the documentation
stated that there was a risk of serious damage
to health from prolonged exposure through inhalation
and if swallowed, irritating to eyes and skin,
readily absorbed through skin and toxic to aquatic
organisms possibly causing long-term adverse effects
in the aquatic environment.
Advice was to evacuate the area
and absorb the spill on sand or vermiculite and
place in closed containers for disposal.
The fire services and Environment
Agency were called to the cargo terminal site.
Fire fighters in protective clothing dealt with
the spill with a dry agent and handed the site
back to the occupiers to arrange for specialist
decontamination.
Woodland told the court that
when the drum was punctured by the forklift truck,
the spill was largely confined to the container
in which the drum was being shipped and they had
placed sand bags around the drains on the site
before the fire services arrived.
Rentokil was brought in to deal
with the decontamination but neither of the two
men who arrived had qualifications relating to
hazardous chemical spills.
They washed the yard and lorry
with water using hoses for about 10 hours with
no attempt to stop the water from running into
the drainage system or into any watercourse and
they had very limited information about the drainage
system at the site. Representatives from Woodland
witnessed the hosing operation.
Rentokil Hygiene issued a certificate
two days later stating that the contaminated areas
had been cleared of all related risks and were
safe to work with. A risk assessment was also
completed stating that there was no risk to animals
in the area.
Rentokil told the court that
the officer who accepted the clean-up contract
understood that in some way the chemical had been
neutralised.
The Environment Agency told
the Court that neither Woodland nor Rentokil acted
properly on information on the correct treatment
of the spillage, despite having available comprehensive
notes to follow.
None of the three companies
informed the emergency services that TBTO had
got into the drains, nor did they have an appropriate
risk assessment for the treatment of the spillage.
Two days after the spill a member
of the public reported seeing dead fish in a stream
at the bottom of their garden and called the Environment
Agency. An investigation uncovered more dead fish
upstream, including at the back of St Peter’s
Church of England primary school, Coggeshall.
An investigation later showed
that the fish mortality was due to toxicity associated
with TBTO. Tests showed that the chemical had
entered the stream on the day of the spill approximately
two days earlier.
Braintree District Council’s
involvement began in August when they were called
to the site to clear out the drainage system at
the request of CCS Groupex who leased the Anglia
Cargo Terminal site at Priors Way, Coggeshall
and was in overall charge of the site being responsible,
in particular, for the drainage system.
The company sub-let part of
the site to Woodland International Transport Ltd.
Using a tanker the council cleaned
the gullies and catch pit removing the solids
and draining the water back to where it had come
from. Some pinkish residue was noticed in three
of the drains but no special arrangements were
made for waste disposal or for taking samples
of the collected silt.
The tanker was subsequently
impounded by the Environment Agency and emptied.
Samples were taken which showed that the sediment
had a high concentration of TBTO.
On 18 August, 3.6mm of rainfall
flushed from the drains at the site the TBTO dissolved
in the water and the Environment Agency said the
major impact of the chemical was felt immediately
afterwards.
Finally, between 19 August and
25 September 2002, a full clean-up operation was
undertaken at the site with the guidance of the
Environment Agency.
On 19 August 2002, Essex and
Suffolk Water after consultation with the Environment
Agency stopped all abstractions from the River
Blackwater for Langford and Hanningfield until
12 September 2002.
Braintree District Council told
the court that they had been given to believe
there had been a spill but that the problem associated
with the drains was more related to flooding and
siltation than cleaning up a spill. The council
would not have gone near this job if they knew
that this chemical had gone down the drain.
After the hearing Senior Environment
Agency officer Mike Neale said: ‘This chemical
pollution had a major, long-lasting impact on
the ecology of the River Blackwater in Essex,
and seriously affected genuine uses of the river.
‘The incident highlights the
need to ensure that those handling hazardous materials
understand the nature of the products they handle,
the impact they can have if released into the
environment, and what actions to take in an emergency.
‘Had the correct actions been
taken to contain and clean up the chemical, this
incident could have been totally avoided. We are
pleased that the fines imposed reflect the court’s
views on the severity of this pollution.
‘We will not hesitate to take
enforcement action against those who cause pollution
whether through negligence or deliberatly.’
Notes for editors
• TBTO is a biocide used in
timber treatment, and historically as an anti-fouling
agent on boat hulls, although this is being phased
out and some uses of it has been banned since
the 1980's.
• More than 5,700 sizeable
coarse fish died as well as thousands of small
fish and fry over a 10km stretch of the river.
The invertebrate population was decimated over
a distance of 7.5km of the main River Blackwater.
(Rita Penman)
