Specialist packing company Liquipak, based at Queens Mill Business Centre in Huddersfield has been ordered to pay almost £9,000 after polluting a watercourse with bleach.
Kirklees Magistrates heard that in September 2021 the bleach – sodium hypochlorite – escaped after a wooden pallet collapsed. The spilled bleach was flushed into surface water drains discharge into the River Holme where it meets the River Colne in Huddersfield.
More than 800 dead fish were counted three kilometres downstream in the River Colne, as well as dead aquatic invertebrates, such as insects that live in water.
In mitigation the court heard the company was deeply remorseful and that it was an unfortunate accident. The court also heard the company had introduced new handling procedures for its containers and had obtained a drainage plan.
The company was ordered to pay a fine of £2,666.67 after being given credit for an early guilty plea in addition to a victim surcharge and prosecution costs bringing the total amount to £8,973.67.
