Company fined for cyanide spill which killed hundreds of fish in Derbyshire pond

Hundreds of litres of dilute cyanide waste leaked when a container ruptured as it was being unloaded on Heanor Gate Industrial Estate, on February 6, 2018, Nottingham Crown Court was told on Wednesday.

The highly toxic liquid ran down a road and into a drain feeding Adams Pond in Shipley Country Park, which is leased by the National Coal Board Area No.5 angling club.

Hundreds of roach, bream and carp died from cyanide poisoning and there were fears that birds feeding on their corpses would also be contaminated.

The court heard that the container was "brittle" and "liable to burst" and the driver wasn’t trained to effectively minimise the spillage or explain what had leaked.

Workers at the scene, who were without personal protective equipment (PPE), had to be decontaminated but none needed hospital treatment.

Judge Michael Auty KC said “the waste can wreak the most awful damage and have far-reaching consequences” but it was “almost impossible” to determine the true extent.

Six fire engines and about 25 firefighters were joined by Derbyshire police, East Midlands Ambulance Service, Severn Trent, the Environment Agency and Derbyshire County Council.

Clean-up costs were "nigh-on impossible" to determine, but the Environment Agency deployed 48 members of staff alone to prevent further pollution at an estimated cost of £50,000.

J&G Environmental Ltd, based in Dorset, admitted breaching Regulation 12 of Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016, and was also ordered to pay £52,000 costs.

Judge Auty said the containers, used to transport a dilute waste product from Rolls Royce, didn't belong to the firm and were maintained by waste management company CSG Ltd.

But he added: “If you are moving containers such as these the law says you are responsible for them to be in a fit and safe condition to be moved.”

John Cooper KC, for J&G Environmental, said the family-run firm, which employs 75 people, deserved credit for their guilty plea.

“It was an isolated, one-off incident from a company that cares very deeply about the field they operate in,” he said.

J&G Environmental was cautioned in November 2006 for an offence relating to storing and handling waste.