PICTURES of the oil spill which led to a recycling centre in Ammanford being fined £42,000 have been released.

Ammanford Recycling Ltd admitted two breaches of conditions in their environmental permit, and at Swansea Crown Court on January 5 was ordered to pay a £42,000 fine, £4,652.42 in costs and a surcharge of £2,000.

An investigation carried out by Natural Resources Wales found that – in March 24, 2023 – an incident had occurred where oil had escaped from the site onto neighbouring land and it was not immediately responded to by the operator.

The pool of oil was around “five to six metres long”, and was “less than 20 metres away from the River Loughor”, prosecutor Jon Tarrant said.

Under the permit the operator is required to immediately implement control and remediation procedures in line with the necessary standards following a potentially polluting leak or spillage on site.

South Wales Guardian: The pool of oil discovered off site.The pool of oil discovered off site. (Image: NRW)

The company also failed to comply with another permit condition on February 1 to keep waste clearly segregated and identified from wastes being kept on site for exempt waste management operations.

This involved oily waste – including end of life vehicle parts and engine blocks – not being properly segregated at the site, while the concrete pad beneath “required maintenance in several areas” and there was oil pooling in the cracks in the concrete pad.

Nicholas Cotter, representing the company, said Ammanford Recycling Ltd had co-operated fully with Natural Resources Wales and that “effective compliance is now in place”.

He said the company had “spent well over £1 million rectifying problems on the yard”, particularly with regard to sealing it to prevent any further leaks off-site.

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David Ellar, senior waste regulations team officer at Natural Resources Wales, said: “Every business in the waste industry must have a permit to move, store or treat waste, and to ensure it is carried out in a way that does not pose risk to the environment or human health.

“This facility was found to be in breach of several conditions within their permit, which was evidently having a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

“Wherever possible, we work with operators to make sure their activities comply with the law, but when a business continues to fail to comply we will take legal action.”

To report an environmental incident call 0300 065 3000 or online at naturalresources.wales