Walsall based JP Metal Treatments Limited has been ordered to pay more than £7,000 for making illegal discharges into the Severn Trent Water sewer network.
The company was fined £4,000 for the offence and was ordered to pay legal costs of more than £3,000.
The case was heard on 9 September at Walsall Magistrates Court, following a prosecution brought by Severn Trent Water for a breach of the Water Industry Act 1991. It is a criminal offence under section 121 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to contravene conditions regulating the nature and composition of trade effluent discharged into a public sewer.
Between 9 July 2012 and 3 December 2012, JP Metal Treatments Limited was found to have discharged above the permitted limit for zinc and suspended solids.
Simon Cocks, waste water services director for Severn Trent Water, commented that while such prosecutions are a “last resort”, the utility believes it has responsibility to its customers to recover costs and discourage similar offences.
“The limits we set to regulate trade discharges are calculated to ensure they do not adversely effect the capacity of our sewage works to efficiently treat sewage, so exceeding this consent is not only illegal; it can also damage the sewage treatment process and so risk causing harm to the environment,” Cocks said.
“Zinc and other metals are potentially toxic to wildlife and if they get into the environment can have a devastating effect. It is also very expensive for us to remove metals like zinc from water that we extract for drinking water. ”
Cocks added that Severn Trent Water would prefer to work together with businesses to prevent any breaches occurring in the first place, rather than going to court.
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