Persimmon Homes has been fined £433,331 after it polluted the River Gavenny in Monmouthshire, South Wales, in 2019.
Persimmon pleaded guilty to charges relating to breaches in Environmental Permitting Regulations at Newport Magistrates Court on 5 April.
A total of seven pollution offences, caused by illegal water discharge activities, occurred at the Willow Court development site in Abergavenny. The offences took place between 11 February and 11 November 2019.
An additional pollution offence also occurred on 2 February 2021.
Silt contamination
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) inspections revealed that silt-containated water run-off from the site caused the pollution on each occasion.
NRW officers took water samples from the River Gavenny and found significant levels of suspended solids in the watercourse. As a result, NRW said this could have a negative impact on fish and other invertebrates, clogging their gills and reducing light penetration in the water.
There was no evidence of the pollution killing fish in the Gavenny. But the NRW said the impact of silt would have had a detrimental effect on aquatic life in the water.
NRW officers met on site with the management of Persimmon Homes in March 2019 to discuss preventative measures.
This included jet washing the silt back from the road onto the site and digging a trench across the entrance. The NRW officers also asked Persimmon to place clean stone and straw bales in the trench to absorb any silt water runoff.
Failed preventative measures
The trench did initially stopped the immediate flow of contaminated water. But the NRW accused Persimmon of failing to carry out additional mitigation measures. Those included digging more ditches, closing the site entrance to traffic, and effectively recording inspections of pollution measures.
And the NRW claimed that Persimmon failed to maintain a silt netting placed at a discharge point into the river Gavenny.
The court fined Persimmon Homes £53,000 per offence, and ordered it to pay NRW costs of £9,161. Persimmon also paid a victim surcharge of £170, bringing the total fines to £433,331.
Anthony Bruten, environment officer for Natural Resources Wales said: “The construction industry has a duty of care to the communities in which they operate, to ensure the correct controls and safeguards are in place in order to prevent incidents such as these occurring.
“In this case, Persimmon Homes’ failure to put in place suitable mitigation methods meant that silt run off from the site continued to negatively impact the nearby water courses and the River Gavenny over a period of 10 months.
“I hope this fine will send out a clear message that environmental legislation is to be taken seriously.”
Persimmon’s response
A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes East Wales said: “We would like to sincerely apologise for these incidents which occurred some years ago in Abergavenny.
“While we are relieved that there has been no material harm caused to the local environment, and it has been acknowledged that they were not deliberate acts, we fully understand their potential significance.
“These incidents should not have happened and we have made a number of changes to local personnel and procedures in South East Wales to improve the on-site implementation of appropriate preventative measures.
“As a company we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and express our deep regret that these incidents took place.”
