The council pleaded guilty at Honiton magistrates' court for polluting a brook in east Devon and was fined 5,000 plus 2,100 costs. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
On February 15 this year Environment Agency protection officers on a routine site inspection at Heathfield Farm landfill site near Clyst St Mary discovered that discoloured and foaming liquid was entering a tributary of Grindle Brook from a pipe.
Sampling showed ammonia levels downstream of the discharge were more than twenty times higher than those above the pipe. Water quality was ‘very good’ above the problem area but dropped to ‘fair quality’ downstream of the discharge.
An investigation showed leachate was breaking out of the side of the landfill, finding its way to the land drain and then through the pipe into the brook. A further visit to the landfill on February 19 found the discharge into the stream was still taking place.
Dave Brogden, of the Environment Agency, said: “Heathfield Farm was used as a domestic waste landfill under the guidance and direction of the council in the 1960s and 70s when the Exeter incinerator was offline for a period and the council is responsible for its continued maintenance.”
He added: “Landfill leachate can be extremely polluting and it is vital that operators are vigilant in protecting the environment for the full life of the site. In this case the high levels of ammonia meant the water quality was downgraded from top quality to only fair.”
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