Risk news

Failing to dispose of the discharge from a washing machine correctly has cost a Huddersfield chemical company more than £8,000.

Sub Micron Industries Limited was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,580 at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to a pollution charge.

The company was prosecuted following an Environment Agency investigation into pollution in the River Colne in March 2009.

Aquatic life was killed off entirely by highly-toxic pesticides in a 6.5km stretch of the river in the Slaithwaite area.

Environment Agency officials found that the source of the chemicals was a washing machine at Sub Micron's premises which discharged into a surface water drain.

The machine was used to wash overalls and because it discharged into the surface water drain, chemicals from the protective clothing ended up in the river and caused substantial environmental damage.

Sub Micron's managing director Joseph Forrest said the company had not been aware the surface water drain was linked directly to the River Colne.

The case was heard just days after Broadoak Toiletries Limited of Tiverton was fined £8,000 following a chemical spill which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 fish in the River Lowman.

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