Firm's £510k bill for River Witham pollution which killed 135,000 fish

A firm has been ordered to pay over half a million pounds after causing "devastating" river pollution which killed more than 135,000 fish.

Around three million litres of liquid fertiliser were released into the River Witham in Lincolnshire in March 2018.

The leak was one of the county's biggest environmental incidents, the Environment Agency (EA) said.

Omex Agriculture Ltd admitted causing the leak, which polluted a 28-mile (46km) stretch to The Wash at Boston.

The failure of an overground pipe had caused the spill, which saw liquid urea ammonium nitrate gushing into the river at Omex's facility at Bardney Airfield, Tupholme, near Bardney, Lincolnshire Magistrates' Court was told.

The leak triggered a massive EA response and investigation due to its major impact on the environment.

Fish density in the River Witham was greatly affected and the river's pike population would take years to recover, the EA said.

Damage was also caused to three hectares of woodland, which resulted in all the trees in the area having to be felled.

The court heard how Omex had failed to put in place an appropriate maintenance and inspection regime to avoid such pollution incidents.

Fertiliser manufactured by the company was held in two sealed bag lagoons, both holding the equivalent of three Olympic swimming pools of the liquid.

Pipework operated by an electronic pump system was used to pump liquid fertiliser from the lagoons to holding tanks elsewhere on the site, the court was told.

However, a leaking overground pipe and an electrical fault went unnoticed until EA officers discovered a trail of dead fish in the River Witham and identified the Omex site at Tupholme as the pollution source.

The court heard that an investigation found the pipework had come apart because it was faulty and had it been checked when it was first installed more than 20 years before, the fault would have been found.

In addition, there was no routine maintenance of electrical systems and therefore electrical faults were not planned for, the court was told.

Fining Omex £160,000 and ordering it to pay costs of £350,000, District Judge Veits said the pollution incident was "avoidable had proper checks been made".

In the wake of the leak, Omex was ordered to carry out a range of environmental actions to help the river's recovery.

Measures included fish refuges and the creation of areas of calm water for fish to shelter, spawn and feed close to the edges of the river.

The company must make the changes and maintain them over the next decade, the EA said.

Leigh Edlin, area director for the EA for Lincolnshire, said: "The pollution of the River Witham by Omex was a devastating event and one of the largest environmental incidents we have seen in Lincolnshire.

"The EA has worked tirelessly to undo the damage, introducing thousands of fish and requiring the polluter to repair the damage done."

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