A Shropshire farmer who let slurry escape into the River Tern killing over 18,000 fish at a nearby fish farm has been fined after pleading guilty at Market Drayton Magistrates Court yesterday (18 June 2007).
The charge was brought by the Environment Agency under the Water Resources Act 1991. The company was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay investigation costs of £1,770.20 and legal costs of £552.00.
For the Environment Agency, Dermot Scully told the court that on 12 July 2006, the Environment Agency received a report from a Market Drayton fishery farm that the River Tern was a dark brown colour and smelled of cow slurry.
An Environment Agency officer attended the scene after receiving a report from the owner of the fish farm that polluted water was entering the pools on his farm. The officer inspected the river which feeds the fish farm and found the water to be polluted with what appeared to be cow slurry.
Further investigations by the officer revealed nearby Oakley Park Farm, owned by Friend Farms Ltd, had been spreading slurry on a field at the farm earlier that day. It was during this operation that slurry ran over the surface of the field and entered streams feeding the River Tern.
On 19 September 2006, Jamie Friend, director of Friend Farms Ltd, was interviewed by the Environment Agency, during which he admitted to being responsible for the pollution incident.
Speaking after the case, Karen Price, an Environment Agency officer involved in the investigation said: “There are good practice guides for farmers to follow which recommend best practice for spreading their slurry onto fields.
“It is vital that farmers apply slurry in a such a way that it does not escape into any nearby watercourses. Although slurry contains beneficial soil nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, the environmental impacts of slurry in a river can be very damaging. This case highlights that farmers need to take great care and follow best practice at all times.”
In mitigation, it was made clear to the court that the defendant had co-operated with the Environment Agency throughout the investigation. In addition, Mr Friend pointed out that all employees at the farm had been retrained in slurry spreading since the incident.
