On Thursday (8th November), the owners of Welsford Farm in Hartland, North Devon were fined £5,623 for polluting a tributary of the Speke’s Mill Stream near Hartland. The farm’s slurry stores had filled and brimmed over, leading to waste matter travelling across farmland before entering the nearby stream.

Upon securing a conviction, the Environment Agency said the incident of pollution was clearly the result of “poor management,” though the farm owners claimed they were reluctant to spread slurry given that heavy rain had been forecast. The agency said they should have acted sooner to address their full lagoon.  

The ruling follows a case heard last week in Lincolnshire where 700 fish died and a 13.5km stretch of river was contaminated after a tractor towing a bowser containing 10,000 litres of liquid fertiliser turned over into a ditch. Robert Grindal of South Lodge Farm, near Grantham pleaded guilty to polluting a tributary of the River Witham in April this year.

Mr Grindal was fined £15,000 plus costs of £6,761 over the incident. It emerged that he had not followed Environment Agency advice to block off the watercourse immediately after the incident.

After the hearing in Grantham, an Environment Agency spokesperson said the lack of clear planning and delayed reaction to the spill had exacerbated the damage caused. The spokesperson added, "Anyone who handles, stores or transports materials that could cause pollution should have procedures in place to prevent and minimise such pollution from occurring."

In spite of these two incidents, the Environment Agency has said serious industrial pollution incidents have fallen to their lowest level for over a decade.

Nevertheless, earlier this week Water UK announced that metaldehyde pollution levels in the UK’s waters are at their highest since recording began in 2008. The pesticides, most commonly found in slug pellets, are almost impossible to remove from water using conventional means and have been recorded at levels four times higher than is permitted under EU regulation in UK waters.

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