Scottish Water was fined £10,000 at Alloa Sheriff Court on Monday for two pollution incidents in 2011 in Clackmannanshire that, between them, resulted in the pollution of the River Devon and the Goudnie Burn.

The water company pled guilty to two offences under Regulation 44 of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011.

Both incidents were investigated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and reports were sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

On 4 July 2011 SEPA received a complaint through its pollution hotline about discolouration of the River Devon. A SEPA investigating officer observed that the watercourse was discoloured and there appeared to be an accumulation of coagulated suspended solid. Trout in the river were showing signs of distress, and some dead fish, that may have been washed downstream, were also observed.

The SEPA officer visited Glendevon Water Treatment Plant to try and speak to an operative of Scottish Water and find out if anything had happened at Castlehill Reservoir that may have caused the problem in the River Devon. On approaching the site it was clear that there was a major incident in progress, with people on site wearing overalls, masks and protective glasses working around the area of the Sulphuric Acid Tank.

Following the investigation it was ascertained that there had been a spillage of approximately 10,000 – 12,000 litres of 96% concentrated sulphuric acid from the sulphuric acid tank. There was still evidence of acid leaking from the ancillary pipework at approximately 4pm that day.  Scottish Water arranged for the clean up of the spill.

Scottish Water failed to notify SEPA of incident

Calum Waddell, SEPA's reporting officer, said:

"Had the sulphuric acid tank been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, and appropriate materials used, it is likely that the incident would not have occurred. An appropriately sized bund was not provided to contain any potential leak from the storage facility and there was no chemical spill kit available on site.

"Had chemical spill kits been available on site the impact would have been minimised by blocking off the outlets leading to the drains and burns.

"If Scottish Water had notified SEPA at the earliest opportunity then SEPA staff would have been able to attend the site and give advice on the situation and advise on how best to mitigate against environmental damage. Unfortunately SEPA was not informed of the incident by Scottish Water and was instead notified by a member of the public. SEPA subsequently carried out investigations to identify the source."

Alarm system failure led to Goudnie Burn pollution

On 1 August 2011 the levels of sewage at the St Serfs sewage pumping station, which has a catchment area covering the eastern side of Clackmannan and the village of Kennet, got too high and the pumps did not move the sewage forward as they should have done. As a result of the pumps failing, sewage backed up in the system and found its way through a cross connection into a surface water pipe and from there into the Goudnie Burn.

SEPA received two complaints from members of the public regarding the pollution of the Goudnie Burn. On investigating the SEPA officer found a 'grey' discharge from a nearby surface water outfall which smelt like sewage.  Sewage fungus was seen downstream of the discharge point, while upstream of the discharge point no evidence of pollution was found. The impact of the sewage discharge extended to about 750 metres in the burn and caused environmental damage. The discharge was ongoing until 2 August 2011, when samples were taken of the discharge and of the watercourse.

Liam Macrae, SEPA's Investigating Officer, said:

"There is an alarm system in place at the St Serfs sewage pumping station which should alert Scottish Water when one or both pumps are not operating, or when the sewage levels within the station get too high, requiring Scottish Water to attend the site.”

"Had the alarm system been maintained and therefore functioned as it should have done, Scottish Water would have been alerted to the fact the pumps were not pumping sewage forward for treatment. This would have meant that Scottish Water could have carried out essential maintenance to restart the pumps sooner. “