A DAIRY farmer has been ordered to pay £10,000 in costs after he persistently allowed slurry to run off into a stream near his farm. 

David Bartlett, 70, of Upcott Dairy Farm, Sampford Arundel, has also been handed a 14-week suspended prison sentence.

He appeared for sentencing before District Judge Brereton at Taunton magistrates’ court after previously pleading guilty to three offences relating to pollution to the Westford stream, a tributary of the River Tone.

In a case brought by the Environment Agency, the court heard the farm had a long history of failing to properly contain slurry and had been warned several times in the past for polluting Westford stream.

Using the data from emote monitoring set up in October 2022, officers visited the monitoring site two months later where they found significant amounts of sewage fungus contaminating the bed of the watercourse.

Continuing upstream towards Upcott Dairy Farm, colonies of bloodworm were evident. These are a species of a pollution tolerant organism associated with poor water quality. No invertebrate life forms were noted when stones in the stream bed were turned over.

Near the farm, one of the officers saw a nearby ditch had suddenly started to discharge a significant amount of effluent with the appearance and smell of slurry. The source was quickly traced to an overflowing underground slurry tank on Upcott Dairy Farm. 

Officers also investigated the system used for applying slurry to fields. Bartlett was using a simple pipe to dispose of slurry in a single location. Although not discharging slurry at the time of the pollution event inspection, it was clear there was significant contamination of slurry around the end of the pipe and down the field toward Westford stream.

A subsequent visit found slurry being pumped on to waterlogged land with no attempt to use the slurry for crop benefit. The slurry was several inches thick in the field indicating it had been pumped over a prolonged duration.

A biologist’s survey and report confirmed that the Westford stream had experienced repeated, acute and sustained chronic pollution events by slurry.

Bartlett submitted a statement to the Environment Agency in which he made limited admissions, implying others, such as his neighbour and the local authority were responsible. He denied deliberately pumping slurry into the watercourse.

Judge Brereton said there were significant aggravating features in the case, including Bartlett having previously been warned over causing pollution, his failure to carry out proper checks or make structural improvements by way of an adequate, compliant slurry storage system which would be capable of storing slurry having received funds from the Rural Payments Agency.

David Womack, of the Environment Agency, said: “This farmer has, over the years, caused numerous pollution incidents and he has repeatedly failed to acknowledge the advice given or to improve the facilities for storing or properly using slurry.

“We hope Mr Bartlett will now work with us to voluntarily improve the facilities at Upcott Dairy Farm. If he doesn’t, we won’t hesitate to use other legislative powers to reduce the risk of further pollution.”