A farmer in North Devon has been ordered to pay £19,500 in fines and £4,190 in costs after pleading guilty to three environmental offences.
Peter Willes, of Higher Alminstone Farm in Woolsery, Devon, admitted to allowing controlled waste to be deposited without a permit at his farm in February 2010, thereby breaching the Water Resources Act 1991. He also admitted to causing slurry and milk to enter a stream, and a further charge of allowing effluent in another stream.
Mr Willes was prosecuted after off-duty Environment Agency officer, Sean McKay, noted that the nearby stream bed in Beckland woods was thickly coated with algae. Two days later, the same officer was called to a fire at the farm and saw waste on the tip site had been lit. A variety of hazardous wastes such as veterinary wastes, metal halide bulbs, strip lights, an upright fridge, tyres, plastics and fibreglass had been burnt.
Mr Mckay said, "No drainage survey was carried out when the dairy was expanded to identify risks and to divert water polluted with cattle faeces to the slurry tank. In addition, an enormous silage store had been built without complying with the guidelines. This had resulted in prolonged discharges of silage effluent and slurry to two separate streams, both of which were extensively affected."
He added, "Farmers must regularly check and maintain their slurry stores. Slurry must not be allowed to enter watercourses. It is highly toxic and dangerous to aquatic life. Although this incident had the potential to cause harm to the environment, fortunately, on this occasion, no long term harm occurred."
