Enforcement undertakings due after potato pollution incident

Decomposing potatoes being stored in a warehouse at an airfield rented by Lamb Weston/Meijer UK Ltd on land owned by Ralph Harrison & Co Ltd at Little Snoring Airfield, Norfolk released liquid that entered the surface water drains at the site and subsequently passed into a tributary of the River Stiffkey at Little Snoring, near Fakenham, Norfolk. This resulted in the death of fish and invertebrates in a 1km stretch of water. The Environment Agency determined that due to the localised nature of the pollution incident and taking into account the companies’ previous history that it would be appropriate to deal with the matter through Enforcement Undertakings; the companies payed nearly £30,000 to the Norfolk Rivers Trust and agreed to take action to prevent an incident happening again in the future.