Companies fined after pollution kills fish

The Environment Agency found that 3km of the brook was polluted with trade effluent

Two companies have been fined after hundreds of fish were killed by pollution in a Worcestershire brook.

The Environment Agency (EA) said human error and corporate failings meant waste from food manufacturer Elisabeth The Chef (ETC) was discharged into the Laugherne Brook in Worcester in 2017.

It followed mistakes made during routine checks by engineering company, Civil Environmental Project Services Ltd (CEPS).

Both companies accepted responsibility and were ordered to pay fines totalling £90,000 at Worcester Crown Court on 24 October.

The EA said pollution was found along almost two miles (3km) of the brook, where the water had turned cloudy.

It estimated hundreds of fish were killed as a result, including brown trout, bullhead, dace, and gudgeon.

Employee mistakes

The court heard a CEPS employee attended the ETC site’s pumping station for routine maintenance on 1 September 2017 and failed to switch the pumps back on.

Waste then built up in the pump well instead of being sent to the sewer, causing an overflow of trade effluent, the EA said.

The pollution was discharged through a broken sluice gate and into a ditch running alongside the factory.

A few months earlier, the EA said the same employee fitted an alarm too high within the pump well so ETC was not notified the pumping station was not working.

Both companies pleaded guilty with ETC accepting that it had failed to put in checks and procedures to ensure its on-site pumping station was working correctly.

ETC was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £52,000. CEPS was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,000.

Environment officer Kelly Horsley said the EA welcomed the sentence.

"This was a serious pollution which caused considerable disruption besides fish deaths," she said.

The BBC has contacted both companies for comment.