Housebuilding company prosecuted for pollution offences

A housebuilding company has been fined almost £30,000 for illegal water discharge activities that affected a river near to one of its building sites.

Enzo’s Homes Limited has been ordered to pay a combined total of £29,389.42 for causing  pollution incidents which impacted the Dowlais Brook, a tributary of the River Llwyd in Cwmbran.

The construction company pleaded guilty to causing an illegal water discharge activity between the 22 of December 2022 and the 13 of March 2023 which is an offence under the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Run-off

The illegal water discharge activities arose from the Enzo’s Homes Limited site know as Abbey Woods, off Malthouse Lane in Llantarnam, between December 2022 and March 2023.

Inspections carried out by officers from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) revealed that the pollutant was caused by water run-off from the site, which had been contaminated with silt.

NRW officers met with site managers from Enzo’s Homes Limited on multiple occasions between December 2022 and January 2023, to discuss the necessary mitigations measures that needed to be implemented in order to minimise the risk of pollution.

Officers raised concerns with Enzo’s staff in relation to the silt fences on site and their ability to cope with heavy rain. It was made clear that significant improvements in mitigation measures were needed in order to prevent continued or new discharges of silty water into the adjacent watercourses.

A warning letter was issued to Enzo’s Homes Limited on 12 December 2022.

On 12 January 2023, NRW officers attended the site to find that overnight rainfall had completely overwhelmed the mitigation measures in place. These mostly comprised of silt fences and attenuation ponds designed to temporarily hold and gradually release water to prevent flooding during heavy rainfall.

NRW attended again on the 20 of January 2023 and whilst it was noted that some attempts had been made to improve the mitigation measures, concerns remained regarding the large build up of silt behind the fences and that the measures would not cope with further rainfall.

During a subsequent site visit on the 13 of March 2023, it was observed that the silt mats were already full of silt and not providing any level of silt removal as water was flowing over and around them.

There was still a silty plume entering the Dowlais Brook. It was assessed that the mitigation measures were still unable to cope.

Water samples obtained and analysed by NRW officers in January 2023 revealed high levels of suspended solids (small solid particles which remain in suspension in water) in the small watercourse adjacent to the building site.

Silt can have a negative impact on fish and other invertebrates, clogging their gills and reducing light penetration in the water.

Duty of care

Alastair Krzyzosiak Environment officer for Natural Resources Wales said: “Environmental regulations are in place to help protect people, wildlife, our rivers, and land.

“The construction industry has a duty of care to the communities in which they operate, to ensure the correct controls and safeguards are in place in order to prevent incidents such as these occurring.

“If construction companies plan properly, even during period of very heavy rain, there should be no ecological impact.

“In this case, Enzo’s Homes Limited were made fully aware by NRW officers of the requirements that were needed to install effective silt mitigation methods, that permits were required for discharging treated surface water to a watercourse, and that any discharge of contaminated water was an offence under Environmental Permitting Regulations.

“I hope this fine will send out a clear message that environmental legislation is to be taken seriously. We will not hesitate to take appropriate action against those who disregard regulations and jeopardise the natural environment we all know and love.”

Enzo’s Homes were fined £20,000,  as well as being ordered to pay a £2000 victim surcharge and NRW costs of £7,389.42 bringing the total amount to £29,389.42

To report a pollution incident please call NRW’s 24-hour incident hotline on 0300 065 3000 or report it online Natural Resources Wales / Report an incident