Wastewater pollution costs food company £8,000

Bakkavor Foods is £8,000 out of pocket after it was fined for putting factory wastewater into a local stream.

On Wednesday (July 14th), Newark Magistrates Court found the food company in Lincolnshire guilty of polluting the watercourse, which leads into the River Fleet.

The organisation was taken to court after the Environment Agency reported an incident of pollution in the water outside of the factory in December 2008.

It was confirmed that Bakkavor Foods had been pumping cream substances into the waterway, which causes oxygen to be used up and affects the water quality of the river.

Environment Agency officer Jonathan Hall said: "Companies must take adequate precautions to ensure that equipment is properly maintained and polluting material contained on site."

He added that the agency takes these incidents "very seriously" and will prosecute any company that has an "impact" on the environment.

This has been a good week for the agency after garden centre Jack Moody was fined £92,000 for polluting the atmosphere at its compositing site near Wolverhampton.

Posted by Claire Manning