Farming partnership gets fine for pollution

J&A R Reid's penalty of almost £7K for sewage leak

- STAFF REPORTER

A farming partnership has been issued a civil penalty totalling almost £7,000 by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) following pollution of watercourses in Perthshire.

A penalty of £6,700 has been issued to J & A R Reid, near Scone, after silage effluent adversely impacted two burns over several months in 2023.

SEPA officers launched an investigation following public complaints of strong odours, discoloured water and fungal growth in the Langley and Anatty Burns during August 2023.

They confirmed the presence of sewage fungus and noted strong odours affecting a 150-metre stretch of the Langley Burn and 50 metres of the Anatty Burn.

The pollution was traced to a leak of silage effluent from the farm operated by J & AR Reid.

Investigations revealed that the silage store was full and stacked above its design capacity, and that a faulty section of effluent pipework was discharging into the surface water drainage system, which ultimately led to the water environment.

Analysis of water samples taken by the officers confirmed significantly elevated levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and phosphorus downstream of the discharge.