Shrewsbury pollution case firm to pay £7,000
Saturday 28th August 2010, 11:29AM BST.
A Shropshire farm has been ordered to pay more than £7,000 after being found guilty of polluting the River Severn when slurry leaked from its site, Shrewsbury Magistrates Court heard.
AJ Farming Limited, based at Home Farm in Berwick, Shrewsbury, was charged with causing poisonous, noxious, polluting matter or waste to enter controlled waters after slurry was released into the river on April 29 last year.
After entering a guilty plea the business was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £3,858.58 in court costs along with a £15 victim surcharge. The fine was cut from £5,000 after credit was given when the business entered an early guilty plea.
The costs must be paid within 28 days under a fines collection order.
Mr Adrian Roberts, defending, speaking outside of the court, said it was a one-off incident.
He said: “It was an isolated incident and the company has always enjoyed good working relations with environmental agencies. The amount of slurry that got into the river was modest and nothing was displaced or killed.”
The Environment Agency, which was prosecuting in the case, was alerted to the high levels of ammonia in the river near to the farm by Severn Trent.
The incident happened after slurry was being moved from a pit to a tank.
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