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Fife chicken slurry spill results in fine for Fife egg farm

A slurry spill which entered the River Ore resulting in the death of a large number of fish resulted in a £3,750 fine for an egg farm based near Kirkcaldy yesterday (18 February).

Deans Foods Limited, which runs Sheep Pens Farm at Thornton, pled guilty at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to carrying on an activity liable to cause pollution of the water environment after an incident resulted in chicken slurry discharging into the surface drain at the farm, which entered the River Ore via the railway drain at Redford Bridge.

SEPA officers were alerted to a problem following a telephone call via SEPA's 24 hour pollution hotline on 19 July 2008, and on attending saw dead fish, including trout, eels, minnows and sticklebacks, though no pollution was visually evident. Over the next few days SEPA officers investigated the area, taking water samples and assessing where the fish kill started. The source was narrowed down to a discharge point downstream of Redford Bridge.

In an effort to determine where the pollution originated SEPA officers then contacted a number of businesses in the local area to check if there had been any spills or other activities that might have caused the incident. Despite asking a representative of Deans Foods whether there had been any spills at any of their premises, it was not until an officer visited the Sheep Pens site on 25 July, in the course of inspecting potential pollution sources in the area, and saw muck in the yard and the drainage ditch that the source was finally identified.

It transpired that one of the chicken shed doors had burst open, resulting in chicken slurry entering the surface water drain which lead to the railway drains and then the discharge point into the River Ore.

Alistair Morrison, SEPA's investigating officer, said:

"It appears the high level of ammonia in the slurry discharged, resulted in the death of migrating sea trout and resident brown trout, as well as eels and coarse fish species in the watercourses downstream. These deaths may affect fish stocks for some time, as  mature sea trout that would have spawned in the Autumn were killed, having an impact far wider than the number of dead fish seen at the time.

"The efforts of Deans Foods Limited to contain and capture the spillage were largely  unsuccessful in preventing the slurry entering the surface water drain and ending up in the river. Furthermore the company failed to notify SEPA of the spill, indeed the source was not identified until an officer attended the site during the course of his investigations, even though Deans Foods had been asked whether there had been any spills."

SEPA's Colin Bayes, Director of Environmental Protection and Improvement said:

"We want to help people avoid pollution and advice on how to do that is easily available from our staff, offices and www.sepa.org.uk. The NetRegs website, www.netregs.gov.uk, also offers clear guidance on environmental rules and regulations. However, where pollution is significant or persistent, or is as a result of wilful or negligent actions, SEPA will use its enforcement powers to protect the environment for the benefit of all of Scotland's citizens.

"Importantly, if a pollution incident occurs, we urge anyone to let us know straight away by calling our 24 hour pollution report line, 0800 80 70 60, giving as many details as possible so effective action can be taken."

Ends

Notes to editors

The exact charge Deans Foods Limited pled guilty to was

• On 18 July 2008 at Sheep Pens Farm, Strathore Road, Thornton, Fife you DEANS FOODS LIMITED did carry on a controlled activity, namely an activity liable to cause pollution of the water environment in that you did discharge chicken slurry into the surface drain at Sheep Pens Farm, Strathore Road, Thornton which entered the River Ore via the railway drain without the authority of an authorisation under the aftermentioned Regulations; CONTRARY to the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 Regulation 5 and 40(1)(a) and the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 Section 20(3)(a).