EA fines farmer nearly £20,000 for polluting stream

A Somerset farmer has been fined for polluting an 800m stretch of watercourse, after ignoring the Environment Agency’s calls to remedy a leaking silage clamp.

Neil Baker, who farms near Crewkerne, was fined a total of £16,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,220 by Taunton Magistrates after admitting to two charges of causing pollution.

Environment Agency (EA) officers first detected sewage fungus in the Small Brook watercourse and traced the pollution back to a leaking silage clamp on Mr Baker’s land.

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Silage effluent was found to be leaking from a large clamp, pooling into a field and overflowing into a ditch, causing pollution that was detected over the entire length of the Small Brook stream – over 800m – until its confluence with the larger Broad River.

The court heard that during a 2019 visit to Mr Baker’s farm, the EA highlighted that the silage-making areas were non-compliant, with a subsequent report of actions needed to avoid a pollution incident.

Senior EA officer Dave Womack said that the farmer “had been given clear advice and guidance on what they needed to do to make the silage-making areas comply with regulations that have been in place for over 30 years”.

The report advised that: “If the new silage clamp had been installed with perimeter effluent channels on all sides, or if the agency had been notified of its construction, as required by law, this pollution event could easily have been prevented.

“It was reckless to ignore the construction standards and the advice given previously.”