Crime Solicitors

An Evesham food processing company has been fined nearly £60,000, after allowing the pollution of a local brook.

Walsh Mushrooms – a mushroom packaging and distribution company operating at the Vale Park industrial estate in Evesham, Worcestershire –
appeared in Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on 31 January 2017 and pleaded guilty to an offence of polluting the nearby Battleton Brook with the effluent from rotting mushrooms.

The prosecution was brought by the Environment Agency, following reports of pollution of the brook in April and May in 2015.

On 24 April 2015, an Environment Agency officer visited the Battleton Brook in Evesham, following a report it had turned black with a foul odour. The officer found the brook heavily polluted with organic matter, causing low levels of oxygen. Some frogs and a significant number of invertebrates downstream of Vale Park had been killed as a result of the pollution incident.

Officers, along with staff from Severn Trent Water Limited, identified the source of the pollution as a skip full of decomposing mushrooms on the Walsh Mushroom site, which was leaking into a surface water drain.

Investigations of the drainage system suggested this had been ongoing for a number of days. Walsh Mushrooms was advised to remove the skip, undertake a cleaning operation and conduct a full inspection of the site drainage system.

The Environment Agency stated that the company had failed to carry out the site drainage survey within a reasonable time after 24 April 2015. As a result, on 14 May 2015, officers attended the premises of Walsh Mushrooms again to examine the site drainage system and discovered that similar effluent was continuing to flow into it.

A representative of the company was interviewed and accepted that no training had been given to staff regarding the function or maintenance of the site drainage – and no training had been given to staff regarding pollution risks associated with storing waste on the site.

The company had failed to carry out any environmental risk assessments since it began operating at Vale Park in 2000.

However, the company, which had no previous convictions, expressed remorse for the incident – and acknowledged its failure to carry out environmental risk assessments, or give appropriate training to company staff.

The company stated that it had co-operated with the Environment Agency’s investigation and had taken steps to remedy the issues at the site. These included the monthly sampling of fluids from the on site inceptor, the training of staff – and the storage of waste mushrooms in leak-proof containers.

Walsh Mushrooms was charged with one offence contrary to Regulations 12 (1) (b) and 38 (1) (a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,888.16, with an £170 victim surcharge.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said:

“Walsh Mushrooms failed to conduct any assessments of the risks their operations posed to the environment.

“They did not understand or maintain their drainage system – and they failed to provide any training for staff on how to recognise or deal with pollution incidents.

“As a result of these failings, they caused significant damage to the brook. We will always seek to take action against those whose actions results in pollution of our rivers.”

Duncan Lewis Criminal Solicitors – Environmental Offences

Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors can advise companies and individuals at any stage of an environmental offence, including charges relating to polluting watercourses, fisheries offences, fly tipping, waste carrier offences, failing to manage hazardous waste, air pollution, noise pollution, or misuse of permitted land.

There are Duncan Lewis offices across England and Wales and in most major cities – and a Duncan Lewis criminal defence solicitor can advise at the start of an investigation by the Environment Agency or local authority and before charges are brought.

For expert legal advice on all environmental offences, call Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors on 0333 772 0409.