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Construction firm fined more than £10,000 for polluting Welsh stream
A construction company has been fined and ordered to pay costs totalling more than £10,000 for polluting a stream in south Wales.
Llanmoor Development Company, a house builder based in Talbot Green, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last August to polluting a stream while building houses near Tondu, Bridgend.
The charge was brought by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which took samples downstream of the Parc Tondu construction site.
The company and its sub-contractor were found to have failed to prevent surface water containing silt and mud from entering a tributary of the Nant Kenfig, which flows into the River Ogmore, between August 2021 and March 2022.
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NRW said silt pollution can “significantly impact the water quality and ecology of rivers and can kill insects, plants and fish”, in addition to reducing the spawning and hatching of fish eggs.
Llanmoor was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,280.79 to NRW and a victim surcharge of £190 at a sentencing hearing on 2 January.
Fiona Hourahine, operations manager for NRW, said: “Llanmoor Development Co Limited had a duty under its planning conditions to ensure there were measures in place to prevent contaminated water run-off from impacting nearby streams and rivers.
“The company was aware of the risks and consequences of not installing pollution mitigation initially, and not maintaining the measures introduced properly.”
“We will use all the resources and levers at our disposal to prevent harmful pollution, carrying out more inspections and prosecuting those who commit the most severe or deliberate damage,” Ms Hourahine said.
She thanked the Ogmore Angling Association for reporting many of the pollution incidents.
In response, Llanmoor said in a statement that it “regrets the discharge of silt into the River Ogmore”, “takes responsibility for these events” and was “committed to preventing such incidents in the future”.
It extended its apologies “to the local community and understands the gravity of the incident, together with the temporary impact on the river ecosystem”.
Llanmoor said excessive rainfall at the end of September 2021 led to the drainage system designed to mitigate run-off being overwhelmed in early October.
“Llanmoor immediately raised concerns with their sub-contractor, who retained control of the site on this date, and were assured this discharge of slit was an isolated incident,” it said, noting that the site was eventually taken back from the sub-contractor and mitigation measures were put in place.
“Since control of the site has been returned to Llanmoor Development Company, they have worked closely with NRW and independent experts to implement appropriate systems of run-off to prevent slit discharge,” it said.
Pollution mitigation has become a focus in Wales in recent years. In 2022, dozens of Welsh development schemes were revealed to be at a standstill due to the levels of phosphate in rivers.
In January 2020, NRW set stricter targets for phosphate levels for all rivers that are Special Areas of Conservation across Wales.
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