Post by Hoppy on Aug 11, 2006 14:37:44 GMT -1
A Ceredigion farmer was fined £750 at Aberystwyth Magistrates' Court earlier this week (08.08.2006) after pleading guilty to causing cypermethrin used on plants to enter a tributary of the Afon Stewi. John Hughes of Pencwm Farm, Llandre, Bow Street was also ordered to pay £738 legal costs to Environment Agency Wales, which brought the prosecution.
The Court was told that a survey of the River Clarach and its tributaries in September 2004 identified depleted numbers of invertebrates, the food that fish live on. Investigations in February 2005, identified specific farms, which had caused pollution in this catchment.
Cypermethrin pollution of an unnamed tributary of the Afon Stewi, and the Stewi, itself a tributary of the Clarach was traced to Pencwm farm. The Cypermethrin had entered the unnamed tributary from a roadside ditch via a surface water drain in the yard area at Pencwm. Whilst discharges from other farms in the catchment were also a factor in the pollution of the Afon Stewi, it is evident that the discharge from Pencwm farm contributed significantly to the invertebrate decline.
In mitigation it was said that the defendant did not dip sheep at Pencwm but at two other farms in his ownership. In 2000 he had embarked upon a reseeding programme which had been completed in September 2004. Cypermethrin used on plants had been applied in the reseeding operation, vehicles and equipment used had been washed down in the farmyard at Pencwm. It was believed that these washings draining to a roadside ditch had been the source of the pollution although it was also argued that the roadside ditch may also have been contaminated by another source upstream of the farm.
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 take great care to prevent the escape of any amount of cypermethrin chemical before, during and after use onto any areas which can drain into streams and rivers.'
'If using cypermethrin based dips, extremely high standards of management must be followed. If you wash down vehicles and equipment used in the application of cypermethrin, make sure you collect the washings in a contained area and dispose of them via an area of land authorised by the Environment Agency for the safe disposal of these chemicals.'
'The toxicity of these cypermethrin chemicals to the aquatic environment means that even a few drops can cause a severe environmental effect over kilometres of streams and rivers.'
The Court was told that a survey of the River Clarach and its tributaries in September 2004 identified depleted numbers of invertebrates, the food that fish live on. Investigations in February 2005, identified specific farms, which had caused pollution in this catchment.
Cypermethrin pollution of an unnamed tributary of the Afon Stewi, and the Stewi, itself a tributary of the Clarach was traced to Pencwm farm. The Cypermethrin had entered the unnamed tributary from a roadside ditch via a surface water drain in the yard area at Pencwm. Whilst discharges from other farms in the catchment were also a factor in the pollution of the Afon Stewi, it is evident that the discharge from Pencwm farm contributed significantly to the invertebrate decline.
In mitigation it was said that the defendant did not dip sheep at Pencwm but at two other farms in his ownership. In 2000 he had embarked upon a reseeding programme which had been completed in September 2004. Cypermethrin used on plants had been applied in the reseeding operation, vehicles and equipment used had been washed down in the farmyard at Pencwm. It was believed that these washings draining to a roadside ditch had been the source of the pollution although it was also argued that the roadside ditch may also have been contaminated by another source upstream of the farm.
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 take great care to prevent the escape of any amount of cypermethrin chemical before, during and after use onto any areas which can drain into streams and rivers.'
'If using cypermethrin based dips, extremely high standards of management must be followed. If you wash down vehicles and equipment used in the application of cypermethrin, make sure you collect the washings in a contained area and dispose of them via an area of land authorised by the Environment Agency for the safe disposal of these chemicals.'
'The toxicity of these cypermethrin chemicals to the aquatic environment means that even a few drops can cause a severe environmental effect over kilometres of streams and rivers.'
