Ammonia discharge costs haulier £34k

The accidental release of ammonia from a refrigeration unit into a watercourse has cost Eddie Stobart Group more than £34,000 in fines and costs

Following reports of pollution to Cuttail Brook at Annesley in Nottinghamshire, the Environment Agency tracked the source to the haulage company’s premises on the nearby Sherwood Business Park. It was found that there had been a problem with the refrigeration system at the site.

A solicitor representing the firm told Mansfield magistrates’ court that the pollution that occurred was not the result of a deliberate act and that the company had now put a new system in place so that the incident could never happen again.

The well-known haulier pleaded guilty to a breach of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2010, and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £4,040.29 costs.