A farming company has been slapped with a hefty fine after polluting two rivers. Velcourt Ltd manages Manor Farm, near Frome, and must pay a total penalty of £34,000 for contaminating the watercourse.
Dozens of fish died because surface water run-off from agricultural fields was not properly managed. A case was brought by the Environment Agency and Velcourt pleaded guilty at North Somerset Magistrates Court on Monday (April 4).
In August 2018, the agency received reports of dead fish in the Hardington and Buckland Brooks, which are tributaries of the River Frome. Officers attended and found brown trout and bullhead among the species poisoned by dirty water in the streams, reports Somerset Live.
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The next day they traced the discoloured water back to a side stream flowing from the direction of Manor Farm, where they found non-permitted discharge from the farm’s surface water drainage system.
It was heavily discoloured and, when samples were taken, they confirmed that it would be fatal to fish because of its concentration of ammonia, and very high biological oxygen demand, which limited the oxygen supply to fish in Hardington Brook.
The farm manager stopped the discharge and emptied the ditch. However, a follow-up inspection by an environment officer in September 2018 found that there was still some polluting matter in the ditch.
They concluded that the farm’s dirty drainage system was a "high potential pollution risk" due to insufficient storage capacity and the right engineering. This meant farm run-off was able to enter the ditch and then the watercourse.
The officer found that the farm infrastructure was not adequately constructed in accordance with the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010 (SSAFO Regulations).
As a result, clean and dirty water systems were not properly separated and the slurry storage and dirty water drainage systems had not kept pace with the expansion of activities at Manor Farm.
Manor Farm is owned by the Radstock Cooperative Society and run by Velcourt Ltd. The company manages and advises on farms throughout Europe, with a head office in Ross-on-Wye.
They were taken to court by the Environment Agency on a charge of "causing a water discharge activity not under or to the extent authorised by an environmental permit, namely the discharge of poisonous noxious or polluting matter into a tributary of the Hardington Brook, Somerset."
Velcourt pleaded guilty to contaminating the watercourse, on or before August 1, 2018. It was ordered to pay the Environment Agency's costs of £14,000, a total fine of £20,000 and a victim surcharge of £170.
Jo Masters for the Environment Agency said: "We expect much better from such a large and experienced farming business, both for the environment and the local community. Regulations are in place to protect the environment and our communities and by not keeping up with the regulations this company has put the environment at risk of harm."
Since the incident there has been considerable investment in the farm’s infrastructure and Velcourt has also reviewed arrangements at the other farms it manages. The Radstock Cooperative Society, which owns Manor Farm, has also made a payment of £10,000 to the environmental charity Westcountry River Trust.
