Firm pays £1m after 1,000 fish died in waterway
Environment AgencyAn aeronautical company has made a financial contribution of more than £1m following a pollution incident that left about 1,000 fish dead, the Environment Agency (EA) says.
The incident happened in 2018 at Mettis Aerospace's metals installation site in Redditch, following an issue with discharge from the surface water drainage system.
The problem resulted in a solution of caustic and sodium aluminate leaking into an unprotected surface water drain and into an adjacent watercourse, an EA spokesperson said.
The BBC has contacted Mettis Aerospace (MA), which has accepted the discharge from its site had caused the pollution incident, for comment.
As an alternative to prosecution for the offence, MA offered an enforcement undertaking (EU), including spending some £504,240 on site infrastructure improvements.
The EU is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for offences committed.
'Prevent repeat offending'
The EU includes the following:
- Donations to environmental enhancement projects in Redditch and the Black Country totalling £379,500
- Initial pollution clean-up costs of £111,268
- Payment of the EAs initial investigation costs of £9,324
- Site infrastructure improvements, training and management systems development and certification costs of £504,240
- Loss of amenity compensation payments to local charities £7,000
- Payment of EAs costs for assessing compliance with the EU £13,026
The EA spokesperson said: "Protecting the environment and taking action against those that damage or threaten this is our utmost priority.
"While we will always prosecute in the most serious cases, Enforcement Undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements.
"They enable businesses to become more compliant and prevent repeat offending by improving their procedures, helping ensure future compliance with environmental requirements."
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