Post by Hoppy on Dec 14, 2005 18:19:35 GMT -1
Sheep dip pollution costs farmer over £1,000
A Ceredigion farmer was fined £750 at Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court earlier this week (13.12.2005) after pleading guilty to causing cypermethrin sheep dip to enter the River Ystwyth. Peter Unwin of Ty Mawr Farm, Cwmystwyth, Aberystwyth was also ordered to pay
£255 legal costs to Environment Agency Wales, which brought the prosecution.
The Court was told that an investigation of the River Ystwyth in January 2005 identified depleted numbers of invertebrates, the food that fish live on. The source of the problem was traced to Ty Mawr Farm.
Investigations established that Unwin took water from the river using a vacuum tanker, which had been used to empty both his own sheep dip bath and those of his neighbours. This water was then used to wash down lorries at the farm. In addition to the exchange of pollutants from the tanker to the river through the contaminated pipe, it was apparent that run-off from
the farmyard including the wash water entered a farm ditch which drained to the Ystwyth.
Analysis of moss samples taken from the River Ystwyth were found to contain elevated levels of cypermethrin and a biological survey conducted the following month revealed that the discharge from the farm was responsible for the almost total absence of invertebrate life in over 15 kilometers of the river downstream.
Speaking after the case, Gareth the Agency’s local Environment Management Team Leader said: 'This case demonstrates how important it is that farmers and contractors do not regard water, from vacuum tankers and pipes contaminated with sheep dip chemical, as
suitable for cleaning vehicles. They should also take great care to prevent the escape of any amount of sheep dip chemical before, during and after sheep treatment onto any areas which can drain into streams and rivers.
'If using cypermethrin based dips, extremely high standards of management must be followed. Farmers need to carefully select sites where mobile units are used to ensure that all of the chemical dripping from the fleece will be captured by a sealed drainage system,
farm yards or lanes are likely to be completely unsuitable. Then freshly treated sheep must be kept out from streams and watercourses until their fleece is completely dry, even if this means corralling sheep in fenced-off areas provided with drinking water.'
'The toxicity of these sheep dips to the aquatic environment means that even a few drops
can cause a severe environmental effect over kilometres of streams and rivers.
'We will be monitoring our streams and rivers during the next dipping season, and we will be able to identify any incidents of sheep dip pollution and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate. I would ask farmers and sheep dip contractors to follow the
guidance available in the ‘Defra Code of Practice Use and disposal of Sheep Dip compounds’, which is available from Defra or local Agency offices.'
BAN CYPERMETHRIN NOW Hoppy
A Ceredigion farmer was fined £750 at Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court earlier this week (13.12.2005) after pleading guilty to causing cypermethrin sheep dip to enter the River Ystwyth. Peter Unwin of Ty Mawr Farm, Cwmystwyth, Aberystwyth was also ordered to pay
£255 legal costs to Environment Agency Wales, which brought the prosecution.
The Court was told that an investigation of the River Ystwyth in January 2005 identified depleted numbers of invertebrates, the food that fish live on. The source of the problem was traced to Ty Mawr Farm.
Investigations established that Unwin took water from the river using a vacuum tanker, which had been used to empty both his own sheep dip bath and those of his neighbours. This water was then used to wash down lorries at the farm. In addition to the exchange of pollutants from the tanker to the river through the contaminated pipe, it was apparent that run-off from
the farmyard including the wash water entered a farm ditch which drained to the Ystwyth.
Analysis of moss samples taken from the River Ystwyth were found to contain elevated levels of cypermethrin and a biological survey conducted the following month revealed that the discharge from the farm was responsible for the almost total absence of invertebrate life in over 15 kilometers of the river downstream.
Speaking after the case, Gareth the Agency’s local Environment Management Team Leader said: 'This case demonstrates how important it is that farmers and contractors do not regard water, from vacuum tankers and pipes contaminated with sheep dip chemical, as
suitable for cleaning vehicles. They should also take great care to prevent the escape of any amount of sheep dip chemical before, during and after sheep treatment onto any areas which can drain into streams and rivers.
'If using cypermethrin based dips, extremely high standards of management must be followed. Farmers need to carefully select sites where mobile units are used to ensure that all of the chemical dripping from the fleece will be captured by a sealed drainage system,
farm yards or lanes are likely to be completely unsuitable. Then freshly treated sheep must be kept out from streams and watercourses until their fleece is completely dry, even if this means corralling sheep in fenced-off areas provided with drinking water.'
'The toxicity of these sheep dips to the aquatic environment means that even a few drops
can cause a severe environmental effect over kilometres of streams and rivers.
'We will be monitoring our streams and rivers during the next dipping season, and we will be able to identify any incidents of sheep dip pollution and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate. I would ask farmers and sheep dip contractors to follow the
guidance available in the ‘Defra Code of Practice Use and disposal of Sheep Dip compounds’, which is available from Defra or local Agency offices.'
BAN CYPERMETHRIN NOW Hoppy
