Natural Resources Wales | A farmer has been ordered to pay more than £4,000 in fines and costs after a pollution incident near Abergavenny led to soil and silt being discharged into two small watercourses.
Jamie Langford, of J M Langford and Son, based in Herefordshire, pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Newport Magistrates’ Court to an offence under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
The successful prosecution by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) resulted in Mr. Langford being fined £375 and ordered to pay £3,603.50 in costs to NRW, and a victim surcharge of £150. The level of fine for environmental offences is set by the courts and is based on the level of harm, culpability, and the financial means of the defendants.
The case followed an investigation by NRW officers into a pollution incident that occurred on 12 June 2023, when intense rainfall caused soil runoff from two potato fields being rented and cultivated by J M Langford and Son near Abergavenny.
The heavy downpour washed soil and silt from the recently planted fields into two nearby watercourses, one a tributary of the Mynachdy Brook and the other a tributary of the Nant Gavenny.
The runoff also caused extensive damage to a neighbouring property, including The Copper Kettle Café and adjoining dwellings. That element of the incident is being dealt with separately by insurers.
The court heard that the layout of the potato planting furrows, running directly up and down the slope, allowed rainwater to channel freely down the fields, picking up large volumes of soil.
NRW officers found that better land management, including wider buffer strips or alternative planting patterns, could have significantly reduced the risk of runoff and pollution.
Mr. Langford was sentenced for a Category 3 offence under sentencing guidelines. The judge took into account his good character, lack of previous convictions and the fact there was no financial gain. The court also noted that Mr. Langford was considered an expert farmer and had not been negligent in his actions.
