Somerset farmer fined again over slurry offences
Pollution was found flowing towards a nature area
A farmer who allowed slurry to flow into a protected part of Somerset for a second time has been fined £11,000.
Pollution was found spreading for more than a mile from Ben Hembrow's farm at Stoke St Gregory near Taunton during an inspection in June 2019.
The affected watercourse flows into the West Sedgemoor Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Somerset Levels and Moors Special Protection Area and a site with RAMSAR protection, meaning it is a designated wetland.
Mr Hembrow, 33, was ordered to pay the Environment Agency costs of £9,567.38, fines totalling £1,689 and a victim surcharge of £168, after pleading guilty to polluting a watercourse 3 times.
On 19 June 2019, following a report of low dissolved oxygen levels on the Sedgemoor Old Rhyne, environment officers found a tributary polluted with slurry. They traced this back to Huntham Farm, where a slurry lagoon had overtopped.
Two further inspections also found water pollution caused by slurry.
The defendant had previously been fined in 2016 after being found guilty of polluting the same watercourse.
Jo Masters, of the Environment Agency, said:
"It was disappointing to find continual pollution from Huntham Farm following a previous prosecution in 2016.
"We always strive to work with farmers to reduce the risk of pollution, protect the environment, and ensure they are compliant with the regulations."
Concerns about water or land pollution can be made to the Environment Agency on 0800 807060.