WREXHAM Magistrates have ordered a chemical firm at Cefn Mawr to pay fines and costs of £16,800 for polluting the River Dee last year.

Flexsys Rubber Chemicals Ltd pleaded guilty to two charges relating to the incident at its Ruabon works, when almost a quarter of a million gallons of acidic effluent leaked out from an emergency storage tank system on September 22,

2002.

The effluent, contaminated with phenol and aniline, had been stored in tanks which were not suitable for the long-term containment of such material and the leak was a direct result of corrosion due to the acidic nature of the substance.

The pollutant entered the River Dee, which supplies more than two million people with drinking water, via the Trefy-Nant brook and some extraction points for household water were closed as a precaution. Some fish were killed as a result of the incident and it was considered to be very serious because of the scale of the release and the failures in the company's management systems which caused it.

The first charge, brought under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, was for 'carrying on a prescribed process otherwise than in accordance with a condition of an authorisation' and the second, under the Water Resources Act 1991, was for 'causing polluting matter to enter the Tref-y-Nant brook, a tributary of the River Dee'. The company was fined £5,000 on each charge and ordered to pay £6,800 in costs.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'This was a major incident in a very sensitive location, but fortunately the environmental impact was quite limited despite the very large volumes released. A major concern here was the nature of the failures that ultimately caused this incident.

'This case illustrates the Agency's determination to regulate all aspects of industrial processes, not just the final releases to the environment. To this end we are working with the company to ensure these types of problems do not give rise to risks elsewhere on the site.' Anyone who sees pollution, illegal tipping of waste, poaching, fish in dis-tress or any danger to the natural environment can contact the Environment Agency's emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free and will be treated in the strictest confidence.