A farmer has been fined for pollution caused by a slurry which stretched over 6km through a town, and as it went, killed at least 1,700 fish in a nearby river.
The river in Frome was polluted by a slurry lagoon at Bollow Farm where it was overflowing into a ditch from an underground chamber that had not been fully sealed off.
A spillage from a slurry pumping operation days before also entered the same ditch, escalating the situation.
People in the local community were shocked and upset by the sight of fish dying and anglers, kayakers and swimmers, had to suspend activities.
Once alerted, the Environment Agency attempted to save the fish by spraying hydrogen peroxide to restore dissolved oxygen levels in the water.
The Environment Agency classified the incident as the worst kind, category one, which includes effecting the water course for more than 6km and being obvious to the naked eye.
The officer from the Environment Agency in charge, Andy Grant said:
"Our role as a regulator is to protect people and the environment and support sustainable growth. We work with business owners to create better places but when avoidable incidents like this happen, we take action.
Informing us of the initial spillage and keeping an eye on nearby watercourses are two simple actions the farmer could have taken which would have sped up our investigation and stopped the cause of the pollution sooner.
Last November we restocked 5,500 fish including chub, roach and bream at two locations in Frome and we continue working with our partners including the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust, Frome Town Council, farmers and landowners to identify opportunities to enhance and protect the River Frome."
