A Somerset farmer has been fined for causing unpermitted discharge of slurry into the River Frome, after he pleaded guilty at North Somerset Magistrates Court on Tuesday (June 28).
Michael Aylesbury, director of Cross Keys Farms Ltd., has been ordered to pay more that £25,000 for the pollution, which turned the river brown and smelly in August 2020 and killed more than 120 adult fish, including many large pike, roach and chub.
The pollution came from slurry that had been washed out of a soiled cattle trailer and rinsed out on to a concrete yard, the Environment Agency said. Also, a pile of slurry left open to the elements was washed into the surface water drain, ending up in the river.
Environment Officers found the ditch and river smelt strongly of slurry and low in dissolved oxygen. Investigations also showed that the slurry pollution resulted in the death of most invertebrates over more than 2.6km downstream.
Second time
This is the second time the farmer has faced such a charge; in 2017, he was found guilty of polluting the same stretch of the River Frome in 2016, killing more than 1,700 fish.
Some members of the public alerted the Environment Agency to the pollution in August 2020. Reminded of the 2016 pollution incident, the sight of dead and dying fish distressed many people.
One local fisherman described feeling “physically sick” from the strong putrid smell of dead fish and said the sight of the dead fish was “heart breaking“.
“It was very disappointing to find another pollution from Bellow Farm following a previous prosecution for a major incident. The river was just beginning to recover and the fish population was showing signs of improving,” said Environment Officer Andy Grant.
“Informing us of the slurry spillage and keeping an eye on nearby watercourses are two simple actions the farmer should have taken to protect the local environment.
“We restocked the river following the 2016 incident and it is so disappointing to see that work undone.”
