A ROWLEY Regis company has been fined £1,000 for illegally discharging trade effluent into the Severn Trent Water sewer network.

Metal finishers and powder coating specialists Decma Ltd has also been ordered to pay legal costs of £3,427 by Warley Magistrates Court.

The prosecution was brought by Severn Trent Water for breaches of the Water Industry Act 1991.

The company had surrendered its consent to discharge trade effluent for their site in Titford Lane, in 2008 as part of plans to close the site and move operations elsewhere.

But in July last year, Severn Trent officers found Decma was discharging trade effluent without consent and laboratory analysis confirmed the unauthorised discharge contained high levels of chromium.

Waste water services director for Severn Trent Water Simon Cocks said: “The limits we set to regulate trade discharges are calculated to ensure they do not adversely effect the capacity of our sewage works to efficiently treat sewage, so exceeding this consent is not only illegal, it can also damage the sewage treatment process and so risk causing harm to the environment.

“Our customers pay for damage to the sewer network and the treatment works, so it is important that we prosecute offenders in appropriate cases and take action to recover costs where possible.”

He added: “Rather than having to take action in court, we would prefer to work together with businesses to prevent any breaches occurring in the first place.”