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£100,000 fine after brewery pollutes river (29 March 2016)

Date: 29/03/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, £100,000 fine after brewery pollutes river

The Environment Agency has prosecuted a brewing company for polluting the River Wey and the Lasham Drain, which carries surface water runoff and is a tributary of the River Wey.

Molson Coors Brewery Ltd pleaded guilty to two offences of causing a water discharge activity and breaching the condition of its environmental permit with respect to monitoring the Lasham Drain for fungus.

The offences resulted in the discharge of process trade effluent from the installation activities at Alton Brewery – based at Lower Turk Street, Manor Park, Alton in Hampshire – into the Lasham Drain, causing pollution which went undetected.

The court heard that there had been gutters on the building known as the “boiler room” located next to a trade effluent chamber, which ran directly to the Lasham Drain.
The gutters had been removed when the building had been extended and the chamber was converted from a storm water drain to a trade waste effluent drain from this section of the building.

When the alterations were made, the contractors had used a liner which did not seal the chamber to divert the trade effluent, resulting in not completely blocking the existing pipe and pathway to the Lasham Drain.

The Environment Agency first received reports of the presence of fungus in the stream flowing outside Waterside Court Alton, before flowing along the River Wey towards Holybourne. An Environment Agency officer checked the watercourse and confirmed that fungus was present in Waterside Court.

Environment Officers traced the pollution to the brewery’s premises, where a discharge of trade effluent was seen to be entering the Lasham Drain culvert within the brewery, which was discovered to be flowing into the Lasham Drain culvert through the cracks and defects in the chamber.

The company had also failed to respond to the regular monitoring and visual inspections that they were obliged to carry out as a requirement of their permit issued by the Environment Agency. This monitoring clearly indicated that there was a serious problem in the Lasham Drain but the brewery failed to act upon the information.

The drainage problems at the company which caused the pollution led to a significant reduction in the water’s biological quality at Lasham Drain and downstream in the Wey North, compared with that of the upstream control site. The presence of large quantities of sewage fungus indicated that very high nutrient organic matter was entering the Lasham Drain.

At Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court, Molson Coors Brewery (UK) Limited was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £31,586.49.

After the hearing, Senior Environment Agency officer Paul Greaves said:

“We take these types of incidents very seriously and will do everything within our powers to safeguard the environment and people affected – and that includes bringing those who harm the environment to account for their actions.

“It is important that the courts send out a clear message to all companies operating in this sector.

Duncan Lewis Criminal Solicitors

Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors can advise at any stage of an investigation involving environmental offences, including allegations of water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, misuse of permitted land, waste carrier offences, failing to manage hazardous waste, fly tipping and fisheries offences.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and a criminal defence solicitor can attend site inspections by investigating authorities and advise before charges are brought.

For expert legal advice on Environmental Offences, call Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

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