Sussex College Fined £50,000 for Causing Slurry Pollution to Stream
Plumpton College in Sussex has been fined £50,000 for causing pollution to a stream, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,500 fish. The College, which specialises in teaching agricultural practices, had initially aimed to fertilise a field by spreading water with a significant proportion of cow slurry, but the fertiliser then ran off into ditches and land drains before running into an adjacent stream.
The field could not absorb the amount of slurry that was spread, and with the ground being frozen at the time, the majority of the contaminated water ran into Plumpton Mill Stream. "Poor management, a lack of contingency planning and inadequate infrastructure at the farm resulted in a totally avoidable pollution incident that had a disastrous effect on the local environment." (Comment - This was clearly negligent conduct and potentially bordering on reckless conduct and whilst we do not know how the culpability and harm was categorised it is reasonable to assume negligent /category 2. This categorisation would potentially have involved a custodial sentence for any individuals charged with the offence.
The College conceded the pollution was caused by human error. The employee concerned accepted a formal caution (comment - better than risking a potential custodial sentence!). The College pleaded guilty and was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £44,852 in costs.
For more information on the incident, please click here.
The field could not absorb the amount of slurry that was spread, and with the ground being frozen at the time, the majority of the contaminated water ran into Plumpton Mill Stream. "Poor management, a lack of contingency planning and inadequate infrastructure at the farm resulted in a totally avoidable pollution incident that had a disastrous effect on the local environment." (Comment - This was clearly negligent conduct and potentially bordering on reckless conduct and whilst we do not know how the culpability and harm was categorised it is reasonable to assume negligent /category 2. This categorisation would potentially have involved a custodial sentence for any individuals charged with the offence.
The College conceded the pollution was caused by human error. The employee concerned accepted a formal caution (comment - better than risking a potential custodial sentence!). The College pleaded guilty and was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £44,852 in costs.
For more information on the incident, please click here.
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This is an alternative to our standard retainer system and offers clients an opportunity to obtain advice where the cost is pre-determined for the whole year. This arrangement would suit clients who may from time to time need to seek legal advice but may hold off preferring a ‘wait and see’ approach.
In our experience, early intervention can reduce the risk of the situation escalating as we can give advice and guidance that nips regulatory issues in the bud before they develop into something far worse. We also strongly recommend our clients consider taking out legal expenses insurance to cover investigations and prosecutions brought by regulators.
DyneProtect© has teamed up with Butcher & Barlow solicitors to provide DyneProtect© clients access to a specialist team of corporate and commercial lawyers for up to 1 hours’ worth of free telephone advice/legal consultation.
Butcher & Barlow have a dedicated commercial and agricultural hub on Gadbrook Park in Northwich which provides advice and assistance to a host of business clients in specialist areas such as Corporate and Commercial Law, Commercial Property, Private Client and Agriculture.
If you have a corporate or commercial issue which Dyne Solicitors is unable to handle, then Butcher & Barlow’s Commercial team will certainly be able to step in and assist.
DyneProtect© has also negotiated price reductions on OLAT / Driver CPC courses run by training providers KP Legal Limited who are offering discounts to DyneProtect© clients on Operator Licensing Awareness / Compliance training (-20%) and Periodic Driver CPC training (-10%).
