Environment Agency | EA investigations into waste and water offences across Lincolnshire have secured £168,000 for a Lincolnshire charity.

The money will be used by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to support nature recovery and deliver environmental benefits across Lincolnshire. It follows Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency.

An Enforcement Undertaking is available to the Environment Agency as a sanction for dealing with some environmental offences.

£60,000 came from Bowring Transport Limited of Forest Road, Warsop, Nottinghamshire who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

£40,000 was paid by Fox (Owmby) Limited of Caenby Corner, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire who deposited mixed waste without authorisation at Willow Holt Caravan and Camping Park, Tattershall, Lincolnshire between 8 December 2020 and 28 January 2021.

£30,000 was handed over by Crockway Farms Limited, Long Ash Lane, Dorchester, Dorset, following a slurry discharge from a pig unit in Market Rasen on 7 April 2023, which spread to nearby land and into a drainage ditch.

£26,000 was paid by Construction & Environmental Services Limited of East Street, St Ives, Cambridgeshire who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

The remaining £12,000 came from Earthborn Transport Limited of Rectory Road, West Bridgford who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

All offenders made contributions to the Environment Agency’s costs and have carried out actions to stop offending, prevent a recurrence or restore any harm.

Environment Agency | A major property developer has been fined £300,000 after a blocked sewer led to raw sewage, including what was thought to be blood from an abattoir, spilling into a stream.

Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd pleaded guilty in July 2023 to breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 by polluting a tributary of Shotton Beck with sewage while building new homes at Eden Gardens, Sedgefield, in September 2019.

The company was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court after a delay caused by a trial on a related contested charge for which the company was acquitted.

It was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge amounting to £11,042.10.

The court heard construction debris had fallen through a manhole, blocking the sewer and causing it to burst, which sent sewage spilling into a stream and on to the construction site, including what was thought to be effluent from a nearby abattoir.

The new manhole chambers had been both poorly built and not fenced off, leading to construction site traffic causing damage.

The company had already been advised about pollution prevention regarding debris in the sewage system after an earlier incident in June 2019.

The court heard that as part of the new housing development, Taylor Wimpey had applied to Northumbrian Water to construct some new sewers and divert an existing one, which included constructing several new manhole chambers.

By mid-2019 the diverted sewer was carrying sewage through the site despite none of the legal agreements with Northumbrian Water being finalised.

On 4 June 2019, Northumbrian Water attended the site because a bung, which is placed to close off a section of disused sewer, had been dislodged and become stuck further down the line, and as a result sewage effluent flooded out of a manhole cover and on to the construction site.

The company was later advised by the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water about pollution prevention and good working practices, including the need to stop debris entering the sewer network.

However, on 17 September 2019, an Environment Agency officer carrying out a routine inspection near Sedgefield saw sewage fungus on the stream bed of Shotton Beck.

He investigated the nearby Sewage Treatment Works but found no issues. He then saw sewage upstream of the sewage works and the source was quickly identified as the nearby Taylor Wimpey housing development.

On arrival at site, officers saw sewage in the stream, which was discharging from the sewer just outside the site boundary. Photographs taken that afternoon showed the stream turning a red colour, suspected to be effluent from a local abattoir which would normally be treated at the sewage works, and sewage fungus strewn at least 1.5km downstream.

The discovery of sewage fungus to that extent meant that the sewer burst is highly likely to have happened days earlier.

During subsequent meetings and when initially responding during the Environment Agency’s investigation, Taylor Wimpey had denied responsibility for both incidents but once the case reached court the company immediately pleaded guilty to the sewage discharge.

Environment Agency | The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water Services that will see £275,000 go towards environmental improvement projects across Lincolnshire.

This comes after two permit breaches led to unauthorised sewage being discharged into the North Sea.

Anglian Water Services submitted the Enforcement Undertaking offer following a detailed investigation by the Environment Agency into the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station in August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre in August 2020 and September 2022.

The investigation identified a combination of contributing factors, including underinvestment, and inadequate monitoring and management of both the treatment process and the sewer network. The discharges were to the North Sea via a long-sea outfall and the actual environmental harm is unknown.

The company has since taken action to improve and control sludge levels at the sewage works, including installing a new settlement tank, increasing monitoring efforts, and enlisting the help of specialist contractors.

Alongside the offer to East Mercia Rivers Trust, the company will also reimburse the Environment Agency’s investigation costs.

Enforcement Undertakings are legally binding agreements between the Environment Agency and those that have breached environmental regulations.

The person offering the EU is required to take steps to prevent a repeat of the offending and to put right the damage caused.

The offences were:

  • Operating without or other than in accordance with an environmental permit (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (1).
  • Failure to comply with a permit condition (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (2).

The offences relate to the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station, Lincolnshire into Croft Bank Drain on 25 August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre between 25 August 2020 and 26 August 2020, and between 24 September 2022 and 25 September 2022.

Environment Agency | Three Dorset farm companies have paid £33,500 to environmental charities after an Environment Agency investigation into their failure to store slurry correctly.

Crockway Farms Ltd, Drummers Farming Limited, and Crutchley Farms Partnership were found to have failed to follow regulations designed to protect local waterways. In two cases, poorly managed slurry stores led to pollution entering watercourses. In the third, a farm installed new slurry stores without securing the required permit.

All three businesses accepted enforcement undertakings, a sanction that avoids prosecution in return for funding environmental projects and have since introduced stronger measures to ensure full compliance with environmental rules.

The money will now support local projects aimed at improving and protecting Dorset’s natural environment.

Drummers Farming Limited is a farm near Sherbourne in Dorset which caused two slurry pollution incidents in spring 2024.

In April 2024, slurry from its lagoon entered the Leigh Tributary of the Beer Hackett Stream (also known as the River Wriggle).

Alarms activated, but because the event happened during the middle of the night, immediate action was not taken.

In the second incident, laboratory analysis of water samples collected during the Environment Agency investigation showed levels of ammonia which could be lethal to aquatic life.

In both cases, the impact of the slurry could be identified over 1.2 miles downstream.

Changes have been put in place to reduce future risk, including a significant investment in slurry storage, removing an overflow pipe and better monitoring the use of slurry.

The farm gave £10,000 to the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which will be used for the Winfrith and Tadnoll Wetland Restoration Project.

In the case of Crutchley Farms Partnership, Environment Agency officers traced pollution to Marsh Farm in October 2023.

Environment Agency officers investigated pollution in the Mangerton Brook and traced it to Marsh Farm, near Bridport, in October 2023.

Slurry was found entering the stream from a concrete tank’s overflow pipe because a pump had failed

The watercourse had an unpleasant odour and was covered in sewage fungus.

Organic waste was identifiable over 300 metres downstream from the farm, with significant deterioration in the ecology over 800 metres.

The farm put measures in place to prevent further pollution incidents, including a text warning system, and daily inspections.

The company gave £7,500 to the Dorset Wildlife Trust for a trees and wetland project.

Crockway Farms Ltd is an intensive pig farm which failed to obtain an environmental permit before making major changes to the site by installing two new slurry stores.

Strict permits are required for pig farms, as the Environment Agency must consider ammonia emissions and the risk of effluent discharges.

Ammonia in the atmosphere can be harmful to human health and the environment.

Crockway Farms gave £16,000 to the Farm and Wildlife Advisory Group South West, a conservation charity in Dorset which works to reduce farm run off and flood risk in catchments.

Environment Agency | The Environment Agency (EA) has secured £2.35 million from Yorkshire Water for environmental improvements following a series of pollution incidents.

The EA accepted seven enforcement undertakings after separate pollution incidents at wastewater treatment works and sewer infrastructure across the region.

The Yorkshire Water incidents, which took place between 2019 and 2023, involved unauthorised sewage discharges into rivers and watercourses including the Rivers Ure, Dearne, Aire, and Calder.

The cash will go to environmental charities to bolster improvements, and includes improvements to nature reserves, wetland habitat creation and restoring flood plains.

Yorkshire Water made the enforcement undertaking offers after Environment Agency investigations into the incidents.

Yorkshire Water will make the following financial contributions:

  • £500,000 to Don Catchment Rivers Trust for the failure of a storm tank at Lundwood Wastewater Treatment Works, Barnsley, and unauthorised sewage discharges into the River Dearne.
  • £500,000 to Don Catchment Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from a burst rising main at Stainforth Huddle Grounds, Doncaster.
  • £350,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from Leyburn Sewage Treatment Works into the River Ure.
  • £300,000 to Aire Rivers Trust for three unauthorised sewage discharges into the River Aire from Knostrop Wastewater Treatment Works in Leeds.
  • £300,000 split between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (£150,000) and Calder and Colne Rivers Trust (£150,000) for an unauthorised sewage discharge at High Royd Towpath Combined Sewer Overflow, Sowerby Bridge, into the River Calder.
  • £250,000 to Calder and Colne Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from a collapsed combined sewer into Cockleshaw Beck, East Bierley, Kirklees.
  • £150,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge at Laithes Lane in Athersley South in Barnsley.

In addition to the financial contributions, Yorkshire Water has carried out a wide range of remedial actions at each site as part of the sanctions. This includes repairing and upgrading infrastructure, installing new alarm and telemetry systems, commissioning ecological surveys, and updating operational procedures.

The company will also pay all the EA’s investigation costs.

Security Industry Authority | Security company director Mohammed Shaba and his company Peack Global Security Ltd have pleaded guilty to offences under the Private Security Industry Act (PSIA).

Mohammed Shaba pleaded guilty to offences under Section 5 (1) and Section 23 of the PSIA at Luton Magistrates’ Court.

The offences were the result of supplying an unlicensed door supervisor. The court fined him £507 and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £207 and prosecution costs of £500.

Mr. Shaba must also pay £141 of prosecution costs after entering a guilty plea on behalf of his company Peack Global Security Ltd, also for the supply of an unlicensed door supervisor. The costs and fines imposed against Mr. Shaba and Peack Global Security Ltd total £1,351.

Peack Global Security Ltd deployed the unlicensed door supervisor over a period of six months without checking his SIA licence status. The venue to which Shaba supplied the operative made 36 payments to Peack Global Security Ltd adding up to more than £2,000.

Environment Agency | The EA has made Perenco UK Ltd pay out £6.1 million to put right the damage done to the Dorset environment by a major oil spill.

The package includes £620,000 to impacted parties alongside £400,000 towards wildlife and access projects run by local bodies.

In agreeing to the sanction, which is known as an enforcement undertaking and can be used as an alternative to a prosecution, Perenco has also put in place robust measures to ensure that a pollution incident does not happen again.

Perenco made the offer after an Environment Agency investigation into the incident. A revised offer made by Perenco was eventually accepted by the agency.

The pollution incident occurred in March 2023 when Perenco discovered oil leaking from a pipe carrying a mix of oil and water at Ower Bay in Poole Harbour.

A breach of the pipe was caused as part of the pipe corroded much faster than checks indicated or was expected.

A significant amount of oil leaked into the Poole harbour area, which includes sensitive habitats and species such as seagrass and saltmarsh.

The £6.1 million includes £2.6 million on the initial incident response, £2.4 million for clean-up, and £115,000 for ecological surveys.

The company paid £620,000 direct to impacted parties, including commercial seafood beds who were forced to close during the initial pollution assessment.

The Environment Agency accepted Perenco’s offer due to the significant costs the company had already spent making right the environmental damage caused, and the measures taken to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident.

Environment Agency | The EA has secured £430,000 for West Country Rivers Trust from Imerys Minerals Limited, following six clay pollution incidents across a two-year period.

The money will be used to improve fish migration and engage local communities to monitor and champion river health.

Imerys made the offer after an Environment Agency investigation into the incidents.

In agreeing to the sanction, which is known as an enforcement undertaking and can be used as an alternative to a prosecution, Imerys has put in place robust measures to reduce the likelihood of similar pollution incident happening again.

This includes a review of operational procedures, installation of new equipment and a commitment to a 10-year pipeline replacement strategy.

The company will also cover the Environment Agency’s investigation and enforcement costs of £22,600.

The six pollution incidents took place across Cornwall, in the St Austell area, between September 2021 and July 2023.

In one incident, an underground pipeline at Imerys’ clay production plant in Cornwall near Goonamarris failed on 15 September 2021. Clay was released on the surrounding land as well as entering the Gwindra Stream, which then leads to the River Fal.

Imerys estimated that an equivalent weight of clay lost was 87.8 dry tonnes. Sampling suggested environmental impacts were still present two months after the incident.

An investigation found that the pipe fracture was likely caused by damage from machinery. Imerys believe that machinery had thinned and weakened the pipeline.

A second clay discharge to the Gwindra Stream took place in December 2022.

Other incidents included the failure of a buried pipeline joint causing a clay discharge into a stream, and a leaking joint at Imerys Maclarens tank site causing clay to flow into the River Fal.

Environment Agency | A company has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 for illegally storing asbestos waste in Northumberland in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

Reddem Ltd, based at Queens Road, Wooler, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court where it pleaded guilty to one offence under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 of operating an illegal waste site and another under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 of keeping or treating waste in a way likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health by storing waste containing asbestos in open containers.

It was fined £4,000, ordered to pay costs of £4,000 and a victim surcharge of £1,600.

The court heard that the demolition company was running an illegal waste site at The Old Gas Works Yard, at South Road in Wooler, bringing construction and demolition waste containing asbestos to the site before onward transportation for disposal.

Asbestos is a controlled waste and must be stored double-bagged in sealed containers. Skips used to store asbestos must also be kept enclosed, and it must not be transferred between different skips or containers.

The company had no environmental permit, which is required to carry out most waste activity.

The court was told that the issue was first reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by a local resident who had regularly seen waste with the appearance of asbestos being brought onto the site and bulked into large containers.

In June 2023, an HSE Inspector attended the site to gather evidence. They spoke to a director of the company, who confirmed that asbestos cement was being moved around the site.

On 23 June 2023 the inspector served a prohibition notice to the company relating to asbestos disturbance and explained the activity must stop.

The same day, Environment Agency officers attended and saw nine skips which appeared to contain asbestos.

They issued a letter telling the company to stop the activity, and a formal notice requiring the land not to be disturbed until an inspection had taken place.

A joint site inspection took place on 30 June 2023 involving the HSE and Environment Agency, during which samples of waste were taken for analysis from six skips. It was later confirmed that all of the samples contained asbestos.

The Environment Agency’s investigation established that more than 40 tonnes of material containing asbestos was later removed to a properly permitted site for disposal.

BBC News | A housing provider has been fined for fire safety failings following a blaze that killed a vulnerable resident.

Housing association Mount Green has been ordered to pay more than £120,000 following a prosecution brought by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.

The company pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three safety regulation breaches in relation to a fire at its Greylees property in Godalming, Surrey in 2022.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service area commander Lee Spencer-Smith said: “This sentencing was about accountability in terms of public safety.”

The fire service, which brought the prosecution, said a wheelchair user was unable to escape and was overcome by heat and smoke in the building corridor during the 2022 fire. Several other residents were rescued by firefighters and some were treated for smoke inhalation.

The company’s breaches included the failure to address safety recommendations from up to three years before the blaze, according to the fire service.

Mount Green director Marcus Canning said the company fully accepted the fine and extended its “deepest sympathies” to family of the person who died in the fire.

Work to address fire safety issues at Greylees began in April 2021 and completed in June 2023, according to the company.

“We remain committed to taking every learning point on board and have implemented changes to strengthen our processes and policies.” Canning said.

Spencer-Smith added: “Responsible persons have a duty of care to their residents, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community.”

“This outcome highlights the consequences of failures in fire safety management and the critical need for proactive, responsible action to protect people.”

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