A Northampton construction company has been ordered to pay more than £185,000 after it was found to have polluted a local stream in Leicestershire. The brook near to the works site was turned red with run off from the facility and animals living in it were adversely affected.
Staff told officers from the Environment Agency that a drain blocker had failed, which allowed the contaminated contents of two ponds to drain and discharge into the brook via a flood attenuation basin. Winvic admitted to causing the pollution on Wednesday, March 1. They were fined £160,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £25,577.79. The Court also accepted that the offence was due in part to unprecedented rainfall in the local area.
"Nonetheless, we have welcomed working with the Environment Agency throughout the process to ensure lessons could be learned and applied across the business. We continue to liaise with the Environment Agency on numerous projects to achieve successful outcomes."