Housebuilding firm Taylor Wimpey has been fined £488,772 for failing to prevent numerous incidents which led to the pollution of a river in Pontypool, reports Wales Online.
image: for illustration – Open Government Licence v3.0
… multiple incidents were caused by illegal water discharge…
Wales Online writes:
The multiple incidents were caused by illegal water discharge activities which occurred at the Edlogan Wharf site, situated along Bevan Road in Sebastopol, between January and October, 2021…
….A warning letter was then served to Taylor Wimpey on February 23 and May 13….
Yet, over the following months, there were a further six confirmed incidents and five unconfirmed ones relating to pollution caused, or allegedly caused, by silty water discharging from the Edlogan Wharf development site…
Susan Lenthall, environment officer for Natural Resources Wales said: “Environmental regulations are in place to help protect people, wildlife, our rivers, and land. The construction industry has a duty of care to the communities in which they operate, to ensure the correct controls and safeguards are in place in order to prevent incidents such as these occurring.
“In this case, Taylor Wimpey were made fully aware by NRW officers of the requirements….
“I hope this fine will send out a clear message that environmental legislation is to be taken seriously.….”
