A CHEMICAL company has appeared in court after admitting polluting a stretch of the River Colne near Huddersfield with highly-toxic chemicals.

On Tuesday at Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court, Sub Micron Industries Limited (“Sub Micron”), of Radcliffe Road, Huddersfield, was fined £4,500.

The company, which manufactures agricultural insecticides and pesticides, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one pollution offence. In addition to the fine, it was ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £3,580.83 and a victim surcharge of £15.

The court heard that aquatic life in up to 6.5 kilometres of the River Colne at Slaithwaite was wiped out, after Sub Micron polluted the watercourse with a variety of highly-toxic pesticides in March last year.

Craig Burman, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said the river is unpolluted and an important local amenity, supporting fish and other aquatic life. Permits exist to allow discharges into the river at levels which do not cause pollution but Sub Micron does not hold such a permit.

Mr Burman said environment officers went to the confluence of the River Colne and Huddersfield Canal on 20 March 2009 after reports of dead fish in the river. They saw several dead fish at Aspley Basin and up to 100 more in the river further upstream.

On 23 March 2009 environment officers were called to the River Colne at Slaithwaite after reports of discoloured water and dead fish. They saw a milky white discharge entering the river from a surface water drain and took samples.

Mr Burman said the officers traced the surface water drain to the Spa Fields Industrial Estate. Results of tests on the discharge samples led them to check Sub Micron’s premises on the estate, where they saw a washing machine, and discovered that this was discharging into the surface water drain which had polluted the river.

Environment officers were told that the washing machine was used to clean workers’ overalls, and cloths and material used to mop up spillages. Staff were unaware that the washings were being discharged into the river.

The court heard the samples taken from the River Colne on 23 March 2009 contained pesticides and chemicals which are highly toxic to aquatic life, including permethrin and deltamethrin.

Mr Burman told the court only a very small amount of either could kill large numbers of fish over a wide area. The concentration of permethrin in the sample was 13 million times higher than the maximum level advised under Environmental Quality Standards, and the concentration of deltamethrin four million times higher.

An ecological survey on 23 and 24 March 2009 showed a severe impact on invertebrates downstream of the drain, with no invertebrates for 6.5 kilometres. Officers also saw dead fish.

A further survey on 23 April 2009 found small numbers of invertebrates downstream of the drain but hardly any fish in the same stretch of river.

Mr Burman said the pollution caused significant environmental damage and loss of amenity, to local anglers and others. He said the company’s failure to make adequate arrangements to safely dispose of highly-toxic chemicals was an aggravating feature of the case.

The bench gave Sub Micron maximum credit for an early guilty plea and acknowledged it had no previous convictions for environmental offences.

In mitigation, the court heard that Sub Micron had fully co-operated with the Environment Agency during its investigation and the company had immediately made arrangements to take away the contaminated washings once the matter was brought to its attention.

Sub Micron managing director Joseph Forrest told the court that it was a surprise to him that the surface water drains for the Spa Fields Industrial Estate were linked to the River Colne and the company has since moved premises.