The Environment Agency has served a 'notice of liability' to fertiliser company Omex Agriculture Limited for a pollution incident that killed at least 100,000 fish in Lincolnshire.
The company responsible for a major pollution on the River Witham has been told they must develop plans to restore the river by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations SI 2015/810.
This is the second notice the Environment Agency has issued since those Regulations came into force and requires the company to develop plans for repairing the environmental damage caused when ammonia entered the river in March 2018.
Once the notice is served, the recipient has 28 days to lodge an appeal and the polluter has until mid-January to submit their proposals. The Environment Agency must be satisfied the plan represents the best results for the environment.
The ammonia affected the river from Bardney to Wash, severely impacting the condition of the river and its ecosystems. It is thought to be the worst river pollution incident ever recorded in the county.
Manfai Tang, environment manager at the Environment Agency said "we know the pollution had a devastating effect on delicate river ecosystems, and issuing this notice means the process of helping the river recover to its natural, healthy state can start sooner".
"It's one way we're working to protect and improve our environment for local people and wildlife. We look forward to receiving proposals from Omex for review, and working with them to restore the Witham".
After the incident, Environment Agency experts and biologists worked tirelessly with other organisations to clean up the pollution and mitigate the damage. Fisheries teams have since re-stocked the river with more than 1.5 million fish larvae, including common bream, roach and tench, plus re-introducing around 40,000 roach and common bream ranging from 30 to 40mm long.
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency is continuing to investigate the circumstances of the pollution, further action will considered once the investigation is complete.
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