Velcourt Ltd fined for pollution of River Frome tributary
Date of alert:
Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Avon & Somerset Constabulary
A Somerset-based farming company has been fined for pollution which killed hundreds of fish.
Velcourt Ltd pleaded guilty to polluting a tributary of the River Frome with dirty, ammonia-rich water, which killed hundreds of fish.
The company, which manages and advises farms throughout Europe, has been ordered to pay £34,000.
On August 1, 2018, the Environment Agency received reports of dead fish in the Hardington Brook and Buckland Brook – tributaries of the River Frome.
Officers found dead fish – including brown trout and bullhead in the Hardington Brook.
The next day they traced the discoloured water to a side stream flowing from the direction of Manor Farm, where they found a non-permitted discharge from the farm’s surface water drainage system.
The discharge was heavily discoloured, and samples confirmed it would prove fatal to fish because of its concentration of ammonia and very high biological oxygen demand, which limited the oxygen supply to the fish in Hardington Brook.
