\n Mark Pearson of Hanford Farm in Dorset was ordered to increase slurry storage to prevent pollution but failed to do so.\n<\/p>\n
\n He appeared at Yeovil Magistrates\u2019 Court on December 2, where he pleaded guilty and was fined \u00a31,200.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of \u00a3480 and costs of \u00a34,075.\n<\/p>\n
\n In January 2019, an Environment Agency officer was out walking his dog when he noticed what appeared to be a slurry in a stream. (Image: Environment Agency)\n<\/p>\n
\n Chris Westcott of the Environment Agency said: “Pearson has consistently failed to deliver on his promises to the Environment Agency that slurry storage would be increased.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We first highlighted this issue in 2015.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We have been more than patient with the farmer, but the promised improvements never materialised, and the offending continued which left us with no alternative but to pursue enforcement actions.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The court heard that there had been multiple pollution incidents linked to Hanford Farm since 2012.\n<\/p>\n
\n The farm is located within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, an area at risk from agricultural nitrate pollution, which can harm the environment and enter water supplies.\n<\/p>\n
\n Regulations require farmers in these zones to maintain proper slurry storage and follow rules on when and how much slurry can be spread.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Pearson had previously been given advice and guidance by the Environment Agency, and in January 2019, an officer walking nearby noticed what appeared to be slurry in a stream.\n<\/p>\n
\n The source of the pollution was traced back to Hanford Farm.\n<\/p>\n
\n During a formal interview under caution, Mr Pearson admitted that slurry spreading on his land had caused the pollution.\n<\/p>\n
\n He accepted an Enforcement Undertaking as an alternative to prosecution and paid \u00a32,000 to the National Trust, agreeing to increase his slurry storage as part of the undertaking.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite this, he did not complete the necessary works.\n<\/p>\n
\n In November 2024, he was fined \u00a32,500 for the original pollution offence.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Environment Agency later issued an Anti-Pollution Works Notice with a deadline of October 1, 2024, but Mr Pearson failed to comply.\n<\/p>\n
\n A follow-up visit to the farm on October 16 confirmed that no additional slurry storage had been built.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Westcott said the Environment Agency had been patient over several years, but that continued non-compliance and repeated pollution left them with no choice but to pursue prosecution.\n<\/p>\n
\n Farmers can find guidance on proper slurry storage and handling on the Gov.uk website to help avoid similar issues and stay compliant with environmental regulations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Pearson of Hanford Farm in Dorset was ordered to increase slurry storage to prevent pollution but failed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-446714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}