A report released this week by the Environment Agency revealed that pollution incidents dropped in 2012.

Although the report showed an increase in emissions, the results continued a trend of better performance and fewer pollution incidents from UK businesses. 2012 saw the lowest number of pollution incidents ever recorded, according to the EA.

The Environment Agency said that increases in emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides revealed in its Sustainable Business Report (which the agency describes as an annual stocktake of environmental performance in England) buck the general trend for falling emissions observed over the past decade. EA said that the cold winter and relative cheapness of coal led to higher emissions (more coal was burned by power stations in England in 2012 than in any year since 1996).

Even so, EA reported that the overall environmental performance of UK industry continues to improve, despite tough economic conditions. The number of pollution incidents in England classified as serious or significant fell by 8 percent to 504, the lowest level ever recorded. Serious pollution incidents have reduced by 55 percent since 2000.

According to the Agency, although intensive farms (pig and poultry units covered by Environmental Permitting Regulations) only accounted for six out of 194 incidents of serious pollution in 2012, the proportion of the sector operating in 'band A' (best industry practice) remains relatively small at 68 percent. After the food and drink industry, farming has the lowest rate of businesses in Grade A, the EA report showed.

Intensive farming remained a significant contributor to air pollution in 2012, through emissions of ammonia and particulate matter (PM10 small particles). Levels of small particles emitted from farming operations were second only to the elevated emissions of the power industry.

Environment Agency Chief Executive, Dr Paul Leinster, welcomed the report saying, "Overall, the environmental performance of industry in England is good and continues to improve. Serious pollution incidents have more than halved since 2000."

Although half of the incidents in the report came from companies regulated by the EA, the remaining half came from others operating outside of the Agency regulations on industry, including many agriculture businesses. Last week, two companies were ordered to pay more than £10,000 after discharging slurry into a North Yorkshire watercourse in 2012. The pollution incident killed more than 1,300 fish and all invertebrates downstream of the spill, save for worms. On 5th November, both the farm business and the contractor who spread muck which contaminated a beck flowing through Saltburn were fined for their part in the pollution incident.