UK: Brewery Hall and Woodhouse to pay a of £20,000 fee for river pollution

Brewery Hall and Woodhouse was ordered to pay a fine of £20,000 for polluting a river, according to the Morning Advertiser.

A magistrate court in Alton, Berkshire, heard how a faulty sewage treatment system at Hall & Woodhouse outlet the Swan, at Newbury, caused pollution to a River Enbourne tributary on four separate occasions during 2005.The Swan operated its own sewage treatment system, and routine sampling by the Environment Agency revealed that its discharge breached water-quality conditions.

A spokesperson for Hall and Woodhouse said: "Hall and Woodhouse regrets the unfortunate malfunction of the previous treatment plant. In full consultation with the Environment Agency we have decided to invest £53,000 in a new state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant.

"We are happy to say that at no point there was any risk to public health and no evidence of damage to the environment."