Wessex Water has prosecuted Stonegate Farmers Ltd (SFL) for serious breaches of trade effluent consent, resulting in a £90,000 fine plus costs at Swindon Magistrates Court.
The prosecution follows persistent failures by SFL to provide required monitoring information between January 2022 and May 2023.
The company, which processes eggs at its Lacock facility in Wiltshire, was found to have failed to make information available to Wessex Water as it was required to do under the terms of its consent and related legislation.
Trade effluent, or industrial wastewater, can pose significant environmental harm and therefore must be managed carefully. Under the Water Industry Act 1991, businesses must obtain consent before discharging trade effluent into public sewers.
Consents include specific limits and conditions set out to ensure water companies can safety receive and treat trade effluent discharges, without risking harm to assets, staff or the environment.
Federico De Gobbi, Trade Effluent Manager at Wessex Water, said:
“SFL’s persistent failure to provide required information and their obstruction of our monitoring attempts seriously undermined our ability to carry out our duty as a regulator to protect the environment.
“The regulatory limits and conditions we set for trade effluent discharges are determined to ensure our treatment works can effectively process waste without risking harm to the environment. We aim to work with businesses to ensure they achieve compliance with their trade effluent consent.
“Prosecution is absolutely a last resort. However, when businesses fail to comply with these obligations it can impact our infrastructure, the environment and ultimately our customers who bear the cost of dealing with these issues.”
In addition to the £90,000 fine, which includes a £2,000 victim surcharge, SFL was ordered to pay £24,225.31 in legal costs.
