The factory making Cathedral City’s best-selling Cheddar cheese poisoned salmon, trout and other fish by polluting a river and gave residents headaches with a ‘foul’ stink, a court heard.
Dairy Crest acknowledged 21 instances of pollution and permits violations that took place at its Davidstow Creamery, Cornwall. These incidents occurred between 2016 and 2017.
In 2016 and 2018, the River Inny was devastated by repeated poisonings that led to numerous fish deaths.
After the hearing, the Environment Agency has filed the case against the company. The firm could be subject to substantial fines or costs.
The factory making Cathedral City’s best-selling Cheddar cheese poisoned salmon, trout and other fish by polluting a river and gave residents headaches with a ‘foul’ stink, a court heard
Residents living nearby the Cheddar cheese manufacturing plant complained that they had suffered from headaches and insomnia due to a bad smell.
According to the court, eleven charges have been filed against the company for violating permits that allow waste discharge into the River Inny. They were brought forth between December 2015 and January 2020.
Dairy Crest buys milk from approximately 300 local farmers to make Cathedral City cheese. Saputo is the Canadian owner.
Charges refer to ‘biological sludge’, ‘suspended solids’ and ‘partially treated creamery effluent’.
The River Inny is used for breeding by increasingly-endangered Atlantic salmon and are home to native wild brown trout and smaller species like bullheads and loaches.
There are two offenses related to violating permits for odour between June 2016 – June 2020.
After the initial hearing held at Truro Crown Court, the Environment Agency will bring the case against the company. The firm could be subject to substantial fines or costs.
A second charge involved waiting more than one month to inform the EA of discharge violations in August 2018.
A further charge said the company allowed discharges on 16 August 2016 ‘to such an extent as to cause the waters to be poisonous or injurious to fish or the spawn of fish or food of fish’.
If there are reoffending, six charges will still be on file.
The firm said in a statement it had ‘undertaken a significant amount of work to rectify the historic issues to which the prosecution relates’.
It added it was ‘proud to be a major employer in Cornwall and are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen in the region’.
Court was informed that the company was trying to resolve the problem, but the issue was still being resolved.
Davidstow has a ‘long history of making award winning cheddar of consistent quality and is the home of the distinctive, smooth and creamy taste of Cathedral City’, says the company’s website.