Landfill operator gets fined by the EA for polluting waterway
A Wiltshire-based waste management company Hills Waste Solutions has been found guilty of polluting a local river, potentially endangering fish and invertebrates.
Hills Waste Solutions, which operates the Chapel Farm landfill site, at Blunsdon, Swindon, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £16,300 costs at Swindon Magistrates court, in a case brought by the Environment Agency.
The court heard that between July 25 and 28 2006, highly polluting landfill leachate leaked from the leachate lagoon on the Hills Waste site into the surface water ditch, a tributary of the River Ray.
The leakage occurred through a tear in the lining of the leachate lagoon and the failure of the leachate containment system.
According to Hills Waste Solutions, it hired out a contractor to repair the plastic liner and it says that this contractor, who it refuses to name, failed to “adequately repair” the plastic liner.
Samples taken in July 2006 from the ditch outside the site showed that polluting matter had entered the watercourse.
The levels discharged to the watercourse were found at concentration levels that could cause damage to fish and other organisms.
Environment Agency Officer Jo Moakes said: “The protection of our water resources is one of our top priorities at the Environment Agency. Not only is protection of fish and aquatic life important, but equally, we need to ensure that the recreational, agricultural and industrial uses of our river environments are preserved.
“Although the company had carried out immediate remediation works, the court stated that the company had not carried out a survey, that they had not been aware of the leak until a member of the public reported the leak to the Environment Agency and that there was a considerable potential for harm.
“Hills Waste is a large regional operator of at least four sites in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire and they are well aware of the risks involved and their responsibilities in conducting this kind of work.”
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