Shropshire Star

Shropshire farmer's fine over cattle slurry in river

A farmer from Shropshire has been ordered to pay more than £3,000 by a court after admitting he was responsible for pouring cattle slurry into the River Teme.

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Stephen David Small, of Steventon Manor Farm, near Ludlow, blamed a broken pump when he was questioned by Environment Agency officers.

The agency was notified back in August 2011 that part of the river, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) was heavily contaminated with what appeared to be cow slurry.

Environment Agency spokeswoman Catherine Ellis said: "An Environment Agency officer arrived on scene and observed that slurry was covering a large area of the river bed.

"She noticed a corrugated plastic pipe on the steep bankside, and saw green liquid flowing from the end of it.

"The next day, Environment Agency officers visited Steventon Manor Farm and spoke to Mr Small.

"He explained that a pump which was meant to transfer the cow slurry up to a slurry lagoon had broken down.

"The cow slurry from the lower yard and dairy parlour had flowed via an overflow drainage pipe from the yard, down to the River Teme.

"Mr Small was instructed to immediately block this pipe to prevent any further slurry from entering the River Teme, and advised to vacuum tank the slurry directly from the reception pit to the slurry lagoon."

An analysis of the watercourse downstream of the discharge revealed it to be highly polluted, to a level 'comparable to that of raw domestic sewage'.

Checks confirmed there were no Environmental Permits in place permitting the discharge of farm effluent into the River Teme.

Small, 45, appeared at Telford Magistrates Court earlier this week and pleaded guilty to causing the discharge of polluting matter into the River Teme without an environmental permit.

He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,250 in costs.

In mitigation, the court was told that the defendant took action to remedy the pollution swiftly, and was remorseful for his actions.

But Mrs Ellis said: "Our environment is a precious heritage and all steps should be taken to preserve rivers and water courses from pollution. We will not hesitate to prosecute in such cases."

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