Environment Agency issues record fine to dairy company

8th September 2022

A UK dairy company has been fined a record amount of £1.52 million for committing environmental offences over a five year period. The offences included:

• Releasing a harmful biocide into the River Inny and killing thousands of fish over a two kilometre stretch on 16 August 2016. The biocide was used to clean the wastewater tanks and pipework.
• Releasing a mass of suspended solids into the river in July and August 2018. The release coated the river with a noxious, black sludge for five kilometres.
• Consistently exceeding limits on substances like phosphorous and suspended solids entering the River Inny from 2016 up to 2021.
• Numerous leaks of part-treated effluent into nearby watercourses and onto the land.
• Foul odours repeatedly affecting residents over many years.
• Failing, on seven separate occasions, to tell the Environment Agency within 24 hours of when things had gone significantly wrong on site.

Delivering the sentence, the judge identified a poor, middle management culture as a contributing factor to the environmental harm. The environmental problems should have been dealt with by senior management much sooner. The judge observed that some of those responsible for the wastewater treatment plant felt bullied and unable to come forward.

Davidstow Creamery, which is operated by Dairy Crest Limited, is the UK’s largest dairy processing facility and one of the largest manufacturing sites in Europe. Each year it produces 57,000 tons of dairy products. Since substances or products created during the manufacturing process are harmful to the environment, it is a regulated facility and therefore requires an environmental permit from the Environment Agency to operate. This permit has several conditions which must be met to minimise the risk of pollution to the environment. These include limits on the quality and amount of treated effluent that is discharged into the River Inny as well as odour and noise.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency, said: “As a large and well-established operator, Dairy Crest Limited should be up to the job of maintaining the required environmental standards. Instead, it has over a period of many years failed to comply with its environmental permit and not been able to protect local people and the environment. We acknowledge that Dairy Crest Limited has been taking steps to remedy the various problems, but unfortunately, these actions were not swift enough on many occasions and proved to be ineffective in stopping pollution.”

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