Housing firm pays £100k for polluting Bradford waterway

Pitty Beck was polluted a number of times between 2016 and 2018 while construction was under way, officials said

A housing construction company has agreed to pay £100,000 after polluting a waterway on a site it was developing near Bradford.

Keepmoat Homes Ltd offered to pay the civil sanction to the Aire Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency said.

Contractor Applebridge Construction will also pay £35,000, it added.

It comes after an investigation found that Pitty Beck was polluted a number of times between 2016 and 2018 during construction at Heron's Reach.

Doncaster-based Keepmoat Homes first reported pollution from the site on 13 October 2016, where it was confirmed that silty water was running into the beck, the Environment Agency said.

The same happened on numerous occasions over subsequent months, and the firm also breached the conditions of a permit allowing the discharge of water from an outlet at the site, they added.

According to the Environment Agency, as a result of the incidents the companies each submitted an enforcement undertaking, which is a voluntary offer made by businesses and individuals to make amends for their offending.

As part of the undertaking, Keepmoat Homes also revised its surface water management plan for the site, while Applebridge Construction, which was contracted for the first phase of the development, updated its environmental management system and delivered bespoke training to staff.

Ben Hocking, area manager at the Environment Agency, said: "Housing construction companies - like all companies carrying out any major development work - have a responsibility to ensure their work does not impact on the environment and we will take action when pollution occurs.

"While we will always take forward prosecutions in appropriate cases, enforcement undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements."

Bradford-based environmental charity the Aire Rivers Trust said it would use the donations to monitor and prevent pollution and restore riverside habitats.

Keepmoat Homes and Applebridge Construction have been approached by the BBC for a comment.