Overview
- Airdrie Sheriff Court imposed a £48,000 fine and a £3,600 victim surcharge after Devro pleaded guilty to breaching Scotland’s water-environment law.
- SEPA and prosecutors found a fat blockage in the factory’s foul sewer caused effluent to back up and overflow through a dual manhole into the site’s surface drain.
- Sampling showed ammonia up to 350 times the environmental standard with high oxygen demand, which SEPA said caused short-term gross pollution and killed fish and invertebrates in Bothlin Burn and into the Luggie Water.
- Local callers reported milky, foul-smelling water, and investigators traced the discharge to the plant, which should have sent its wastewater to Dalmuir Waste Water Treatment Works for processing.
- Devro has removed the dual manhole, and SEPA is urging businesses to review drainage design and maintenance as this marks the company’s second conviction linked to pollution of the Bothlin Burn.