A firm behind a hydro power scheme designed to produce electricity for 600 homes has been fined £4,000 for failing to prevent contractors from polluting the River Lyon and significantly damaging the habitat of a rare mussel.
In Perth Sheriff Court, Shawater Ltd admitted that between September 2009 and October 2010 they had permitted employees of A & C Construction Ltd and Chic Kippen & Son to construct a pipeline, a ford and access tracks without a licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) Regulations SS 2011/209.
An investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) also found that Shawater Ltd had failed to ensure silt mitigation measures were in place to prevent the discharge of suspended solids into the Inverinain Burn and the River Lyon and thereby killing and injuring freshwater pearl mussels, which are species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The work to the River Lyon was so disastrous that the basic repair bill ran to almost £1 million.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "The inadequate protection of the river was not a one-off or an isolated incident, but a series of deficiencies over a lengthy period. This was a project taking place on a river system where it was known very delicate wildlife could be affected."
Depute fiscal Tom Dysart told the court that silt would "normally" take "hundreds of years" to flow down towards a river and that due to the mussel deaths it was "unclear" how long it would take for the population to recover in the River Lyon — if they ever will.
Sentence was deferred on Alan Smith, 48, a director of A&C Construction, and Charles Kippen, 52, from Stanley, Perthshire, a director of Chic Kippen & Son, who had admitted similar charges.
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