The Environment Agency
is investigating reports of oil polluting
the River Ouse, between Newick and Maresfield
in Mid Sussex.
Officers from the Environment
Agency were alerted to the incident by calls
to the pollution incident reporting hotline
by members of the public. On arrival they
discovered central heating oil had spilled
in the River Ouse, with a visible coloured
sheen stretching up to ten kilometres along
the river.
Environment Agency officers
are responding, acting to reduce the harmful
effects of the oil and investigating its
source. They have deployed oil booms to
contain the spill and will remain on site,
working to minimise the damage done. At
this point, no dead fish or other river
life have been discovered.
Bob Jennings of the
Environment Agency said: “We are very grateful
to the members of public who alerted us
to this incident, as this meant that we
could respond quickly to eliminate the threat
posed by this serious pollution.
“Due to our prompt efforts
the impact of the pollution on the environmentally
sensitive River Ouse has been greatly reduced.
Surveys of the affected stretch of river
will take place to assess the impact of
any ecological impact over coming weeks.”
Members of the public
are encouraged to report any instances of
pollution to our incident hotline on 0800
807060.
Poultry slaughter factory
fined for polluting waters with by-products
A poultry slaughter factory, which caused
the pollution of Moor Drain with blood,
feathers and fat, was fined a total of £10,000
and ordered to pay costs of £3.596.61,
along with a victim surcharge of £15.00.
A poultry slaughter
factory, which caused the pollution of Moor
Drain with blood, feathers and fat, was
fined a total of 10,000 GBP and ordered
to pay costs of 3.596.61 GBP, along with
a victim surcharge of 15.00 GBP.
Yesterday (19 February
2009), Thorne Poultry Limited of Thorne
pleaded guilty at Doncaster Magistrates’
Court to one offence under the Water Resources
Act 1991, relating to pollution of the Moor
Drain. The company also pleaded guilty to
an offence under the Pollution Prevention
Control (England And Wales) Regulations
2000 in relation to failing to provide the
Environment Agency with detailed information
in writing regarding the incident.
For the Environment
Agency, Michael Robinson told the court
that on 14 February 2008 the Environment
Agency received notification of a pollution
incident on the Moor Drain, Thorne. On inspection
of the Moor Drain, the watercourse was contaminated
with blood, feathers and fat. The pollution
was traced back to an outfall linked to
the defendant’s site. The pollution was
caused by a machinery blockage, which resulted
in effluent cascading on to the site yard
and ultimately into the Moor Drain.
The Engineering Manager
of Thorne Poultry Limited arranged for the
removal of polluted water from the Moor
Drain. However, on 18 February 2008 fat
and feathers were still visible on the watercourse.
A biological investigation
carried out on 27 February 2008 concluded
that the number of dead invertebrates in
the Moor Drain indicated an acute lethal
incident.
The company incorrectly
believed that the spilled effluent was not
leaving the site as the site’s drainage
plan did not show any surface water drains
in the vicinity of the effluent treatment
plant.
Speaking after the case
Richard Hardy, an Environment Agency Officer
involved in the investigation said: “Thorne
Poultry Ltd caused a very serious water
pollution and also breached their PPC Permit.
This pollution incident was completely avoidable
if the company had known their own site
drainage. This highlights the importance
of having accurate drainage plans and site
staff being aware of what to do during a
spillage. All companies should take note
of this and take their own steps to prevent
causing pollution. “
In mitigation, the court
heard that Thorne Poultry had no previous
convictions and had made changes to the
effluent treatment plant to prevent a future
re-occurrence.
Water way to boost vole
population
The Environment Agency and Leicestershire
& Rutland Wildlife Trust started work
on North Brook between Exton and Empingham
on Friday as part of a project to improve
water vole numbers.
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Improvements to North
Brook will benefit riverside habitat
The Environment Agency
and Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife
Trust started work on North Brook between
Exton and Empingham on Friday as part of
a project to improve water vole numbers.
Environment Agency machinery
will cut about 250 metres of weeds from
the river channel and overgrown bank-side
vegetation will be cleared away.
Once a common sight
along rivers, lakes, streams and marshes,
the water vole has now become the United
Kingdom’s fastest declining mammal. The
loss of riverbank habitat, plus predators
such as the American mink, have caused vole
numbers to drop rapidly, or become extinct
in some counties. There is now only one
water vole left for every twenty that were
alive in 1900.
A survey of water voles
in Leicestershire and Rutland (2002-2003)
found there were only six sites that had
significant numbers of water voles – one
of which being North Brook and its tributaries.
Environment Agency Operations
Delivery Team Leader Malcolm Owers, said:
‘This work will give the water voles more
space to move around in, a better escape
route from predators and should hopefully
encourage their numbers to increase in the
brook.’
The Leicestershire and
Rutland Wildlife Trust have been working
with the Environment Agency to monitor and
protect the water vole habitat on the North
Brook for the last seven years.
The works are expected
to last one week.
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Environment Agency investigates
after fire at Knowl Hill Waste Treatment
Plant
The Environment Agency
is carrying out an investigation after a
fire at a Clinical Waste Treatment Plant
in Berkshire over the weekend.
Environment Agency officers
were called to Grundon Waste Management
Ltd’s Star Lane Treatment plant at Knowl
Hill, near Maidenhead, on the afternoon
of Friday 20 February following a call from
a local resident.
Two officers were sent
to the site to assist Berkshire Fire and
Rescue Service with their response to the
fire. The fire service confirmed that the
carbon filter section of the plant’s odour
abatement system was on fire. Berkshire
Fire and Rescue Service had contacted the
Health Protection Agency, who assessed the
incident as being a minimal risk to health
as exposure to products of combustion from
carbon and the glass reinforced plastic
would be low.
Barrie Howe, an Environment
Management team leader at the Environment
Agency, said: “We really appreciate the
call from the local resident and their quick
response in calling our incident line.
“The HPA assessed the
incident at the request of the fire service
and concluded that there was minimal risk
of exposure. We also wanted to ensure that
the environment was not at risk from firewater
run off. We worked with Grundon’s staff
and Berkshire Fire and Rescue to prevent
run off and we are satisfied that the majority
of the firewater used at the site was contained
and taken off site for disposal.
“During the incident
the power to the site was switched off,
which included power to the landfill gas
extraction system adjacent to the treatment
plant. This did increase the odour of landfill
gas in the area while the power was switched
off, but power was restored to the system
early on Saturday morning. One of our officers
visited the site on Saturday and Sunday,
confirming that the landfill gas extraction
system was working and that landfill gas
could not be smelled at those times.
“The treatment plant’s
odour abatement system was undergoing maintenance
and clinical waste was not being processed
at the time the fire started. No clinical
waste caught fire. We are now investigating
the causes and circumstances of the fire
to learn lessons and assess the case for
possible enforcement action. We will investigate
both any impacts of the fire and also the
worst-case scenario that may have resulted
from the fire before we make any decision
on enforcement action.”
