JRM Hire and Leasing Limited has been given a Variable Monetary Penalty (VMP) by the Environment Agency (EA) for stealing water from the Sapcote Quarry in Leicestershire without permission.
The VMP was issued on June 22, 2022, and the company will pay £8,510 in addition to the £7,482.77 in costs associated with the Environment Agency’s inquiry.
Since November 2018, Environment Agency investigators have been conducting their investigations and getting regular information about the illegal water abstraction from Sapcote Quarry’s base.
The quarry, which is located not far from Sapcote, Leicestershire, had naturally filled up since quarrying stopped in the early 1990s.
Mr. John R. Mac is the owner of the quarry, and JRM Hire and Leasing Limited is based there.
The Water Resources Act of 1991 regulates the removal of water from any source.
Anyone may abstract up to 20 cubic metres of water per day under Section 27 of the Act for any purpose without needing an abstraction licence.
At Sapcote Quarry, JRM Hire and Leasing Limited has never had an abstraction licence.
To demonstrate that the abstraction was less than 20 cubic metres per day, the EA requested that the company voluntarily place a water metre to the pump.
The pump was running at the base of the quarry when EA officers visited Sapcote in May 2019 to inspect the abstraction, and the water metre was hidden nearby under a towel.
EA officers were successful in gathering proof of illegal water abstraction from the quarry between May and November 2020.
For the May offence, a warning letter was given; nevertheless, because of continuous non-compliance, a penalty was imposed.
An Environment Agency representative stated:
We take seriously our obligation to safeguard the environment. The Environment Agency employs a complete range of enforcement actions where there is proof.
For the more severe instances of non-compliance, a variable monetary penalty (VMP) is a commensurate financial penalty.
We rely on local residents to inform us of pollution and environmental problems, and we strongly encourage people to call our 24/7 incident hotline at 0800 80 70 60 to do so.