News Local company fined over airfield drain pollution
A Wressle-based company has been fined £750 after pleading guilty to polluting the Great Committee Drain at Spaldington Airfield.
Michael Owen Simpson (60), director of Spaldington Compost Company Ltd in Mole End, Wressle, pleaded guilty to causing polluting matter to enter a controlled watercourse when he appeared at Goole Magistrates' Court on Thursday, November 8. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs to the Environment Agency which brought the case.
Prosecutor Paul Harley told the court that due to mismanagement by the company a substantial volume of surface water that had been contaminated entered the Great Committee Drain, which flows through their site.
As a result, in excess of 1.5km of the drain became badly affected by organic pollution, which flowed through the neighbouring Spaldington golf club, whose members' complaints led to the Environment Agency becoming aware of the incident.
When inspecting the site, the Environment Agency officers observed that the water in the drain was visibly cloudy and had a sewage-type odour. At the point where the pollution entered the drain, the water was virtually black, with a great deal of black sludge settled in the channel.
In his defence, Mr Simpson said that he had undertaken a clean-up of the watercourse at his own expense and that the clean-up costs and improvements to his site had cost him around £8,000.
Following the case, Neil Smith of the Environment Agency, said: "When the evidence is available, this case shows our determination to take effective enforcement action to protect the local environment."
Published on 22nd November 2007 in News.
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