£16k fine for pollution at Bulldog Bash

Allowing effluent to discharge from a chemical toilet and pollute a tributary of Gran Brook at Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon, has resulted in Orchid Investments being fined £16,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,367

Leamington magistrates’ court heard that Orchid had supplied sanitation services for the annual motorcycle event, the Bulldog Bash, in August 2011.

Sealed holding tanks are normally used to contain effluent from portable toilets, but this time Orchid used a “lagoon” type facility within the watercourse, which the firm wrongly assumed was lined.

The mistake meant that effluent was discharged directly into the watercourse, causing pollution along a 3.7km and killing more than 300 fish.

The company, which was charged under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2010, pleaded guilty.