A Northern Ireland-based food company has been fined £40,000 for breaching discharge permits at its facility at Cindeford, Gloucestershire in January following legal action by Severn Trent Water.
Severn Trent recorded almost four times the allowed level of phosphorus and 12 times the limit for suspended solids at its Blakeney Sewage Treatment Works in Gloucestershire. It traced the cause of the breaches to Foyle Food Group’s operation at Cinderford Foyle pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates Court to charges of breaching its trade effluent consent.
Managing Director of Production at Severn Trent, James Jesic, said: "It's absolutely vital that we take this sort of legal action to protect both our treatment works and also the environment, as well as recovering costs that, otherwise, our customers would have to bear."
Severn Trent recorded phosphorus levels of 97.4mg/l compared to a limit of 25mg/l, and suspended solids of 12,300mg/l compared to a limit of 1,000mg/l.