An incident of allowing polluted water to enter a tributary has cost a civil engineering and construction company almost £60,000. The fine of £54,000 with costs of £5,995 was issued after silt-laden water was discharged into a tributary of the River Rother on 1 October 2014. The Environment Agency discovered a brown discharge downstream of the works. This caused the River Rother to be temporarily visibly impacted. Local wildlife had not been negatively affected by the incident. However, despite it being acknowledged that this was an isolated incident throughout the contractor’s 18 month contract, the large fine reinforces the need for construction companies to do all they can to mitigate against water pollution. This incident highlights the environmental and financial importance for construction companies to develop comprehensive surface water management plans covering the mobilisation of sediment from their sites. The Environment Agency takes “these incidents very seriously and do everything within [their] powers to safeguard the environment and people that may be affected”. With good planning, silt pollution from construction site run off is can be simple and cost effective to manage.

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