A Perthshire landowner and his contractor today were fined £9000 last week following conviction in August 2011 for carrying out building or engineering works in the River Tay without the authority of an authorisation.

In a case investigated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported to the Procurator Fiscal, Thomas Steuart Fothringham, a local landowner, pled guilty at Perth Sheriff Court, to the offence of causing or permitting a contractor to carry on a controlled activity without the authority of an authorisation under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (CAR). The Last week’s fine was reduced from £12,000 for pleading early.

John McIntosh, trading as McIntosh & Robertson, the contractor who carried out the work, separately pled guilty to carrying out the works by building grey bank protection on the south bank of the River Tay extending some 140 metres without authorisation. He was separately fined £900 – reduced from £1,200 for an early plea.

SEPA received a complaint on 5 June 2010 from a member of the public about engineering works that had been taking place in the River Tay. The complainant advised SEPA's standby officer that they had seen diggers in the River Tay undertaking engineering works, but the works themselves were not occurring at the time of the call. The on call officer passed the matter on to the Perth team and a SEPA officer visited the River Tay at Murthly Castle Estate on the next .working  day.

During the site visit the SEPA officer could see that gravel had been removed from an island within the River Tay and that bank protection works had been carried out on the opposite bank.  The works had no authorisation from SEPA.  The SEPA officer then visited the landowner, Thomas Steuart Fothringham, and explained that these river engineering works including gravel extraction and grey bank protection would have required a licence from SEPA prior to work commencing and all work on site should stop.

During a subsequent interview, Mr Fothringham advised that he had:

• instructed the river engineering works at the River Tay to be carried out;
• hired a contractor to carry out these works on his behalf;
• sought no professional advice on how the works should be constructed;
• had the works carried out without consulting any regulatory bodies (SEPA, SNH).
• He also stated that the gravel used as backfill in the works originated from the island in the Tay.

A SEPA Hydrogeomorphologist carried out a survey of the River and concluded that the works had caused locally significant impact to the river morphology and flora and fauna which depend on it.

Ian Thomas, SEPA's investigating officer, said:

"I have never witnessed unauthorised gravel extraction or grey bank protection over such a large area before, let alone on the same site.

"The River Tay is also home to freshwater pearl mussels, which is a highly protected and extremely rare species.  It is one of the longest living invertebrates, capable of living for well over 100 years.  Its range has shrunk considerably due to pressures, including pearl fishing, pollution and river engineering, and it is now estimated that Scotland holds approximately half the known remaining breeding populations in the world. Therefore Scotland has a critical role in supporting the continued global survival of this important species.

"If the required Controlled Activities Regulations licence been applied for, SEPA in consultation with SNH, would have required a survey for freshwater pearl mussels to be completed.  Any licence issued would have contained conditions to ensure that the mussels and other river life were not harmed.  By failing to apply for the required licence Mr Fothringham and Mr McIntosh did not allow SEPA to place necessary conditions to protect the environment and natural heritage "interests."

Gavin Clark, Operations Manager for Scottish Natural Heritage commented;

"We are disappointed that prosecutions continue to need to be taken to enforce Scotland's laws protecting important natural environments in Perthshire; the River Tay being prime among them.   Hopefully this case will send a clear signal that taking machinery into the river channel and extracting dynamic, active and mobile gravels, on which the health of the river and its salmon depend, should not be done without serious consideration, expert advice and ultimately the necessary authority"