A COMPANY responsible for a major pollution spill on the River Teifi will have to pay £40,000 following the incident – though no prosecution has been brought.

Pencefn Feeds Ltd, near Tregaron has paid the sum after an investigation by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) into the incident back in December 2016.

Around 18,000 fish are thought to have been killed on a five-mile stretch of the Teifi when 44,000 gallons of pollutant leaked from an anaerobic digestion plant.

The West Wales Rivers Trust will receive £15,000 to restore fish habitat in the area.

And a further £5,000 will go to the Countryside Alliance Foundation to fund education activities about fish and the local environment for children in the area.

The payments are consistent with a potential fine and have been made as an “enforcement undertaking”. This means that the money directly benefits the local environment.

The final £20,000 is being paid to recover all investigation and legal costs relating to the case.

Ann Weedy, Mid Wales operations manager for Natural Resources Wales, said: “This has been a very complex and time-consuming investigation and we are pleased to see the financial penalty being used directly to repair some of the damage caused by this incident.

“This will make the Teifi a better place for fish and other wildlife by fencing river banks and developing riverside vegetation.

“We hope these payments serve as a reminder to businesses that we will take enforcement action if they pollute Wales’ environment and don’t operate responsibly.

“The Teifi is one of the most iconic and important recreational and net fisheries in Wales and an internationally important Special Area of Conservation for endangered fish such as lampreys, salmon and bullhead.

“We all need to work together to do all we can to restore the river and reduce the number of pollution incidents damaging our precious environment in Wales.”

As well as investigating the incident and overseeing the clean-up operation, NRW also investigated the roles of all companies involved.

However, the sub-contractor mainly responsible for the spill, Hallmark Power Ltd, went into liquidation so no prosecution could be taken against them. And the main contractor, ComBigaS UK, also no longer exists, so no action could be taken against them either.

Site owner, Pencefn Feeds Ltd, had raised concerns with the companies about the quality of work, but this had not been acted upon. This would have provided significant mitigation if the matter had gone to court, so NRW concluded that accepting an enforcement undertaking was the best option in this case.

Dr Stephen Marsh-Smith, director of Afonydd Cymru, the umbrella body that represents Wales’ six Rivers Trusts, said: “This was a tragic case that was bad for the River Teifi and its fisheries.

“Nonetheless, we commend the use of an enforcement undertaking to resolve the regulatory aspect of the case as some funding will now be put towards restoration within the catchment itself.

“The resolution of longer-term damage remains a separate issue.”

NRW has been monitoring the Teifi since the incident and said there has been minimal effect on invertebrates. Salmon fry have been found in the affected area, so it is likely that at least some eggs survived.

However, juvenile and adult salmon were killed. Large numbers of brown trout were also killed, and this species will take some time to recover.

NRW has carried out more than 100 pollution prevention visits to farms in Ceredigion and the Teifi catchment in the past year to try to combat the risk of pollution from farm slurry.

It has also inspected the other three anaerobic digestion plants in Ceredigion to ensure that their pollution prevention measures are suitable.