SCOTLAND’s environment body has warned that compliance with the law is non-negotiable.

The blunt message came from Terry A’Hearn, chief executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), and followed two prosecutions it led relating to water pollution.

Scottish Water was fined £17,000 over discharges from its Dunswood sewage treatment plant, North Lanarkshire, into the Red Burn at Cumbernauld.

And farm partnership David McCreery and Sons, was fined £1200 for discharging slurry and silage into the Gifford Water, East Lothian.

Sepa said the prosecutions highlighted the importance of managing farm effluents and maintaining critical water treatment infrastructure.

“Both these incidents caused damage to those water bodies, both these incidents caused fish mortalities, and both these incidents should not have happened,” said A’Hearn.

“So, we’re disappointed that they took place but we’re pleased that both organisations have been held to account.

“This is at the core of our One Planet Prosperity regulatory strategy. Businesses and organisations that do the right thing for the environment will be supported by SEPA, they’ll be helped to keep doing the right thing and do even better.

“Those that get it wrong will be held to account in this way.

“We now look forward to working with both organisations to ensure that their environmental management improves, these incidents don’t reoccur and they can move on and become top-class environmental stewards in their own right.”

Scottish Water was penalised at Airdrie Sheriff Court for causing sewage from the Dunnswood sewage works to discharge to the Red Burn in July 2014.

A failure at the works resulted in the release of an estimated two million litres of untreated sewage into the burn. Scottish Water reported the discharge to Sepa and environment protection officers launched an investigation into the cause.

They found that macerators, which are needed to break down solids, had become blocked and material backed up when the works was unmanned. Sewage was then discharged via an emergency overflow outflow pipe into the Red Burn.

Under the site’s licence, this should have triggered warning signals to Scottish Water’s control room, but this did not happen and it did not immediately send staff to correct the issue.

A number of fish died in the Burn and the Bonny Water, which is a favourite fishing spot.

Callum Waddell, Sepa’s reporting officer, said: “The impact of this incident was evident for approximately 2.5km downstream of Dunnswood sewage treatment works. This unauthorised discharge, along with the low flow in the watercourse due to a recent dry spell of weather, resulted in a number of fish being killed. Sepa is very clear that compliance with regulations designed to protect the environment is not optional.”

The McCreery partnership, which runs Yester Mains Farm, admitted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court repeatedly discharging slurry and silage to unnamed tributaries of the Gifford Water, causing pollution to the waters and harm to fish and invertebrate populations.

Sepa reporting officer, Pamela Mackay, said it resulted in a serious pollution incident.

“The silage pollution could have been avoided if the correct storage practices had been followed and the silo had been maintained,” she said.

“This case highlights the importance of ensuring all farm effluents are managed appropriately to ensure they do not escape into the environment.”