The Carden Livestock Company was fined £5000 today at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for causing an accidental discharge of up to 500,000 litres of pig slurry into the Gadie Burn near Oyne on 29 November 2001. The company pled guilty to a charge under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 following an investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

The spillage occurred due to a serious failure of the valves in the farm's 2 million litre slurry store. Severe corrosion in the main slurry valve caused effluent to pour out of the tank, which could not be retained by the safety valve. SEPA staff found that the safety valve was also in a very poor condition.

The waste had a serious effect on the river system along a 7.5 km stretch of the Gadie Burn and River Urie below the farm. SEPA estimated that between 3000 and 5000 fish may have died, due to asphyxiation. SEPA chemists later determined that the slurry was 90 times stronger than untreated domestic sewage. The fish that were killed were a mixture of mainly young trout and salmon.

Dr Nicholas Bedding, Environment Protection Officer, said: “'This was a very serious incident caused by poor maintenance of a slurry store. It had devastating consequences for the river, but it was preventable. This slurry store was not particularly old, and it’s essential that farmers have their slurry valves regularly examined and maintained.''

The incident, which occurred at Mill of Carden at the Oyne Fork road junction, caused widespread disruption to evening traffic. Police set up a roadblock to steer vehicles away from the road below the piggery which was submerged in slurry.

This was the second conviction for the company. It was fined £500 in 2001 for causing up to 5000 litres of pig slurry to contaminate the Gadie Burn on 20 July 2000. This was an unrelated accident which resulted in the death of between 100 and 200 fish.


ENDS

Notes to Editors

· The case was taken under Section 30F(1) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (as amended).

· SEPA recovered just over 100 dead fish from 4 sites along the Gadie Burn and River Urie after the incident.

· SEPA is working with the farmer, not only to reinstate the slurry store, but to offer advice on ecological landscaping near the river to offer it long term protection.