A Lancashire dairy farm has been ordered to pay out over £10,000 following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.
E & A Forshaw, which operates a dairy farm in Alston, appeared at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court on 7 January 2025 for sentencing.
The partnership pleaded guilty in November last year to two charges of an illegal discharge of slurry into Tun Brook.
It also pleaded guilty to breaching regulations around the storage of slurry by extending it too close to the watercourse.
The court heard that in November 2019, the farm reported that pipes used to transfer slurry while land spreading had breached and slurry had gone into Tun Brook.
Environment Agency officers attended and found the brook discoloured. A follow up visit to the farm revealed the clean-up operation was underway and the brook was running clear.
However, two months later, in January 2020, the court heard that the agency received a report of pollution at Alston Lane, near Longridge.
Environment Agency officers attended and found the watercourse discoloured with an odour consistent with agriculture.
They traced the source to the same dairy farm and found a hole in the side of the slurry lagoon with a path of slurry between the lagoon and Tun Brook.
Whilst the slurry lagoon had originally been built before regulations came into force, the partnership subsequently extended the lagoon without written consent from the agency, bringing it to within 10 metres of a watercourse.
The following day, officers were shown remedial work that had taken place, with the partnership saying it intended to build a second storage facility.
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The court heard this has since been completed following advice from the Environment Agency.
Following the sentencing, Nicki Rushton, area environment manager for the agency, noted that regulations on how to construct slurry stores had been in place for more than 30 years.
“All farmers need to be aware of their legal responsibilities to prevent pollution events like this from happening,” he explained.
“We will take action against anyone who fails to act in accordance with environmental laws.”
Lancaster Magistrates’ Court fined E & A Forshaw £3,000 and ordered it to pay costs of over £7,300, as well as a £300 victim surcharge.
