Nicola MacdonaldGlastonbury Festival has been fined and ordered to pay prosecution costs after The Environment Agency alleged that human waste from the site polluted a nearby stream and killed protected fish.
Whitelake River was polluted after around 20,000 gallons of untreated sewage from a steel waste storage tank leaked and ran into the river during the 2014 festival.
The festival was order to pay a £12,000 fine and £19,000 towards prosecution costs by district judge Simon Cooper, who added that he was “bemused at the vigour and energy” put into the case.
“I am concerned that these proceedings have set the Environment Agency somewhat against Glastonbury Festival Limited,” he said.
“I am satisfied that there was proper planning for the festival and no criticism is made of that.
“The Environment Agency were in an advisory capacity and signed off the sanitary facilities plan. There was a waste management plan, there was a rivers and streams management plan.”