Highland Recycling Firm Fined £2,000 For Polluting Burn

29th January 2007

A company who polluted a watercourse killing fish and invertebrates after spreading waste illegally has been fined £2,000.

At Dornoch Sheriff Court today (Monday 29 January) EMAC Recycling Ltd admitted
spreading wood processing effluent from an MDF manufacturing process on fields not authorised for this activity at Clashmugach, Clashmore, Dornoch.

Although the firm was permitted through an exemption to spread this type of waste on fields at Clashmugach for agricultural benefit, they did not have the necessary permission to apply it to the field in question.

In addition, the waste was eight times the concentration it should have been which meant the soil was unable to absorb the run off and it entered the Clashmore Burn.

The incident came to light when a member of the public contacted the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) after witnessing dead trout, eels and worms in Clashmore Burn on 9 June last year.

An investigation by SEPA officers revealed the source of the pollution was from a strong smelling black sludge material which had been spread on a nearby grassy field.

SEPA investigating officer Martina Osterloh said: "There is legislation in place to stop this kind of incident happening. EMAC Recycling Ltd should have been aware of the impact of their actions. The Clashmore Burn flows through four gardens in the local community and we only discovered the pollution because these residents were disturbed to find dead fish and eels in the burn."

The offence was reported to the Procurator Fiscal by SEPA.

Colin Bayes, SEPA's Director of Environmental Protection and Improvement, added: "We want to help people avoid pollution and advice on how to do that is easily available from our staff, offices and www.sepa.org.uk. The NetRegs website, www.netregs.gov.uk, also offers clear guidance on environmental rules and regulations.

"However, if a pollution incident occurs, we urge anyone to let us know straight away by calling our 24 hour pollution report line, 0800 80 70 60, giving as many details as possible so effective action can be taken."