A company which manufactures household cleaning and healthcare products has paid £150,000 to a local river conservation charity after its breach of environmental legislation seriously damaged the flora and fauna in a Derbyshire brook.
Reckitt Benckiser, whose products include brands like Dettol and Strepsils, paid out the sum to the East Mercia Rivers Trust after the Environment Agency accepted an enforcement undertaking from the company.
The payment was offered by Reckitt Benckiser for a leak of aerosol production waste into a brook on Sinfin Lane, Derby, on 12 August 2021.
Despite the company acting promptly to stop the leak and investigate its cause, almost 400 fish died as a result of the pollution, which was 130 times more polluting than untreated sewage.
Using the money for a good cause
The East Mercia Rivers Trust will use the £150,000 sum to help fund a major restoration project on the upper River Witham in Lincolnshire.
The charity, which recorded an annual income of £445,000 in the year to 31 March 2023, restores waterways across Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.
Rachel Butler, the trust’s executive director, said: “The donation from Reckitt Benckiser has directly contributed towards a major river restoration project as part of East Mercia River Trust’s ambition to restore the Upper Witham landscape at scale.
“An important limestone river, this watercourse forms the headwaters of the Witham catchment and is home to white-clawed crayfish and brown trout amongst other native flora and fauna.”
Enforcement undertakings like the one paid by Reckitt Benckiser offer an alternative sanction to prosecution or monetary penalties for companies that commit particular environmental offences such as polluting rivers.
Alongside enabling companies to avoid attracting a criminal record, the money from enforcement undertakings also benefits the environment and local community directly impacted by the offence.
In a statement, a Reckitt Benckiser spokesperson said: “Reckitt deeply regrets the incident which occurred in August 2021 and cooperated fully with the Environment Agency investigation.
“We continue to further strengthen and develop our environmental management systems, minimising the environmental impact of our business while supporting more sustainable use of natural resources such as water where we work.”
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