Bodmin farmer C.P. Button Ltd has given £8,000 to the Westcountry Rivers Trust after causing pollution twice.
The company agreed to contribute to the charity following an investigation by the Environment Agency. The agency found half a mile of the River Allen had been polluted with silage leachate from Polshea Farm in St Tudy, Cornwall, in June 2022. There was also an incident of slurry pollution at Bokelly Farm, near Trelill, in March last year.
C.P. Button Ltd has now contributed £8,000 to the Westcountry Rivers Trust under an Enforcement Undertaking. This is a legal agreement between the Environment Agency and an offender as an alternative action to prosecution or other monetary penalty. The trust will use the money to improve migratory fish habitats. In addition, the company has paid £3,000 in investigation costs.
Jack Hale of the Environment Agency said
Our investigation and subsequent farm infrastructure audit has driven significant investment on the farm including drainage surveys and a covered silage clamp, with further development planned, all of which should prevent future pollution cases.
Enforcement Undertakings, when appropriate, allow a better resolution for the environment than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily, in a way that, in some cases, directly benefits the environment and local communities.
Background
An enforcement undertaking is a voluntary offer made by an offender to
- put right the effects of their offending
- put right the impact on third parties
- make sure the offence cannot happen again
If we accept the offer it becomes a legally binding agreement between us and the business or person who makes the offer. We will only consider accepting an enforcement undertaking for cases where
- it is not in the public interest to prosecute
- the offer itself addresses the cause and effect of the offending
- the offer protects, restores or enhances the natural capital of England
