A Wiltshire farm has been ordered to pay nearly £20,000 after polluting the River Avon with slurry.
J D Spencer & Sons Farm Partnership, of Manor Farm, Langley Burrell, just outside Chippenham, recently pleaded guilty to four offences at Swindon Magistrates Court.
The farm was charged with two counts of illegal water discharge activities and two charges of failing to plan the spreading of slurry following an Environment Agency investigation.
At a sentencing hearing on March 6, the farm partnership was slapped with two fines totalling £7,000.
It was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,800 and costs of £8,944, taking the total penalties to £18,744.
The first incident occurred in November 2023 when slurry entered a tributary of the Bristol Avon.
Downstream water samples subsequently showed very low dissolved oxygen levels and the presence of significant quantities of ammonia in the water.
Winston Spencer, the farm’s co-owner, denied recently spreading slurry or pumping from the farm’s slurry lagoon onto the fields during a formal interview.
He admitted his slurry and parlour washings stores were full and that slurry run-off had occurred.
He suggested this had been due to heavy rainfall washing off slurry which he had spread the previous month.
In March 2024, a second incident resulted in slurry pollution at a watercourse at Langley Burrell.
This was reported by a member of the public and Environment Agency officers traced the pollution to slurry deposits in three of Manor Farm’s fields, via several watercourses.
In another interview, Spencer admitted wet slurry had been deposited, stating that he believed it had entered the field drains and run into the stream.
He said the partnership had no land drainage plans for the fields in their holding.
Suggested reading
David Womack, senior environment officer, said: “This incident was avoidable and should never have happened.
“Farmers have a responsibility to ensure their organic manures are properly stored and spread.
“If farmers have concerns about not having sufficient slurry storage capacity, we recommend they contact us.
“We can give advice on current legislation, help ensure slurry calculations are accurate and reduce the pollution risk by identifying non-compliant structures.”
Mr Womack added that when incidents like this happen, those responsible should come forward as soon as possible to mitigate the impact.
He said: “If an incident does occur, we would urge those responsible to report it as soon as possible to the Environment Agency.
“This can help reduce any environmental impact. Incidents can be reported 24 hours a day on 0800 80 70 60.”
Share