Somerset Independents On Somerset Businesses: Wyke Farms Claims "100% Green" Energy But Environment Agency Shows Wyke Farms As Repeat Environmental Offenders

 

Wyke Farms Claims "100% Green"
But Is It? No.

As well as holding Somerset's councils and elected representatives to account, and praising them where appropriate, Somerset Independents has been penning a series of articles on Somerset's businesses.

Somerset has businesses that have great reputations in the West Country, in the UK and over the World. We want Somerset to be know for the right reasons. So far, we have looked at Clark's, Barber's and Norseland.

We have looked at employment rights, recruitment and retention, quality produce, the impact of Brexit, the impact of Covid-19 and the reputation of Somerset's businesses in general.

Now we turn our attention to Wyke Farms, a Somerset-based company in Wyke Champflower, near Bruton. The company has other sites in Somerset, including an Anaerobic Digester (AD) plant at Lamyatt, and a depot at Wincanton. They are also building a new storage facility at the former Lambrook Piggery, next to the AD plant.

Wyke Farms Sustainable Energy Visitor Centre

They claim, at the entrance to the AD plant and former Piggery, what is shown in the below photo.

Wyke Farms 100% Green

"Wyke Farms 100% Green Sustainable Energy Visitor Centre" the sign says.

They also make much of being in Somerset, and they repeat their "100% Green" claims several times on their website.

But Wyke Farms is not 100% green as they claim. Not by a long shot. It is just another load of greenwash, on the eve of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

What do we mean by "greenwash". We mean that Wyke Farms appears to be yet another company that claims it is "green" but is not. The UK has enough of those already.

One earlier example of the gulf between their marketing and the reality of their business practises was the Lambrook Piggery that was next to the AD Plant. It is  now closed after animal rights activists exposed the barbaric practises at the Piggery, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Was this just a one-off offence? No. Why do we say this?

Because Wyke Farms is, in fact, a serial offender on the environment and being "green".

Do we have evidence? Yes we do. We do not state things without evidence, because we are a credible force in Somerset. It would be foolish, and illegal, to do anything else.

Any reasonable person would agree with us, presented with the evidence that we have, that Wyke Farms is a repeat offender. The facts are there in the evidence.

Our evidence is taken from Freedom of Information requests submitted by Somerset Independents, and other information that our officers and supporters have gleaned about Wyke Farms and its environmental greenwash.

The evidence is from the Environment Agency, who have been very reluctant to give it to us, and even more reluctant to enforce on Wyke Farms, despite their repeated offences. 

The evidence is also from local residents who have been impacted by Wyke Farms and its operations at various sites in Somerset.

And the evidence is also from various departments of the local authorities, Somerset County Council, Mendip District Council and South Somerset District Council. Like the Environment Agency, these local authorities have used a very "light touch" approach to regulating Wyke Farms, despite their repeated offences and despite the legal duty on the authorities to protect local residents and the environment, in co-ordination with the Environment Agency.

Below are some examples of the evidence that we have obtained. We publish it in the public interest, on the eve of COP26.

Evidence Part 1 - EPR Compliance Assessment Report from the Environment Agency on 11th March 2020 to Wyke Farms Limited regarding Lambrook AD Plant

"You have been scored a CCS 3 for the breach in emission limits with the test failure under condition 3.5.1 and table 3.1. If you are unable to fix this issue there are likely to be further scores including under management as root cause.
You should also have reported the breach as soon as you became aware of this under a schedule 5 notice of the permit - see condition."

This was a breach of an Air condition via a breach in emission limits and a breach of reporting. In other words, air pollution in the Somerset countryside.

Evidence Part 2 - EPR Compliance Assessment Report from the Environment Agency on 22nd May 2020 to Wyke Farms Limited regarding Lambrook AD Plant

"Pests
Non-compliance You have been scored a CCS 3 for presence of pests which are likely to give rise to annoyance outside the boundary of the site under condition 3.6.1. There were hundreds of gulls above and adjacent to the site. There were signs of mess on the AD domes and this has been mentioned before. It was said that these birds are present in such numbers since closure of a nearby landfill.
There has been a complaint regarding shooting of birds around the AD plant. But you say you do not use this method. There are other measures you could try.
Action Under condition 3.6.2 please submit for approval, within 1 month, a pest management plan which identifies and minimises the risk of pollution from pests."

You can see that Wyke Farms have tried to claim that "these birds are present in such numbers since closure of a nearby landfill". Wyke Farms tried to blame something else, other than their own shoddy practises - just like when Lambrook Piggery reached the national headlines and brought shame to Somerset.

Evidence Part 3 - EPR Compliance Assessment Report from the Environment Agency on 22nd May 2020 to Wyke Farms Limited regarding Lambrook AD Plant

"Odours...There was a faint gassy smell at the fence line of the AD site, but this was not detected further away over the culvert.
You said that as part of your own management regime you continue to undertake a routine leak detection and repair schedule.
Close by to the slurry lagoon there was an odour– although it was not noticed off site before my arrival. I recommended that, if ever agitation was needed, then this should be at times when the wind is not blowing from the south or towards nearby residents. The slurry pit is open and is a potential source of odour.
There is also an open circular tank in the permit which was said to be being used for surplus cow slurry. I explained that this is old infrastructure. Risks to the water course from it need to be minimised as well as being a potential source of odour. "

It is important to note the above, as there is later evidence from the Environment Agency and complaints from local residents over several years that shows repeat offences relating to pollution, noise and odours.

 

Evidence Part 4 - EPR Compliance Assessment Report from the Environment Agency on 15th February 2021 to Wyke Farms Limited regarding Lambrook AD Plant 

After an incident at the AD Plant, Wyke Farms was found to have made multiple breaches of the conditions of their permit. The four breaches were:

1. Breach of Infrastructure Permit Conditions (Engineering for prevention & control of pollution).
2. Breach of General Management Permit Conditions (Management system & operating procedures).
3. Breach of Emissions Permit Conditions (Surface water).
4. Breach of Monitoring and records, maintenance and reporting Permit Conditions (Reporting & notification).
   

The Environment Agency Report says:

"This was a response to a self-report of an incident involving the over topping of the permitted slurry lagoon. This arose from waste being stored in the Permastore leading to uncontrolled emissions of slurry contents to the yard, surface water drains and the stream which runs beneath the site. The report was phoned in around 8:50 on 15/02/2021, but had occurred at around 16:00 on 14/02/2021."

As we have pointed out above, Wyke Farms were warned in earlier reports of "The slurry pit is open and is a potential source of odour... Risks to the water course from it need to be minimised as well as being a potential source of odour. " 

The Report says:

"We consider pollution was caused... 

The failure to put in place appropriate measures to prevent the spill...

The root cause is considered to be a failure of management."

So despite being warned about it, Wyke Farms did not pay attention. Their management failed. And when the incident occurred, causing pollution, they delayed reporting it. 

The Environment Agency should have acted earlier. Local residents made many complaints about the AD Plant, and the Piggery. But the Environment Agency did not act early enough. And repeated pollution incidents, to air and water, have occurred.

But the same lax management of the Piggery, and the repeated failures by Wyke Farms to act on the Environment Agency reports, added to the reluctance of the Agency and local authorities, meant that pollution had occurred again at the AD Plant.

In a time when development in Somerset is held up due to pollution, it is important to note that the local river is the River Brue that flows through Bruton, past Glastonbury and eventually into Bridgwater Bay.

So Wyke Farms has polluted air and water repeatedly, as we have said at the beginning of the article. But this is only some of evidence.

The Environment Agency has set out the Actions that Wyke Farms must take:

"Actions
Monitoring the water quality including any waste or polluting sludges or slurries that are stored or spread to land
Make arrangement to tanker excess liquids away
Provide a plan to remove the contents of the tank in the safest way possible by 26 February 2021
Review your accident management plan 26 February 2021
Provide a plan for decommissioning the Permastore tank by 26 February 2021 works to be completed by August 2021.
Review and improve monitoring of the former pig slurry pit.
Review your notification procedures 26 February 2021
We consider that there is an on-going pollution risk at the site and therefore you are requested to submit an Emissions Management Plan to identify and minimise the risk of pollution to the ground and water as set out in condition 3.2.2. This shall include: Managing the water course in the culvert including an assessment to minimise potential emission sources from the site.

This is an initial Compliance Assessment Report for the incident. We may review scores and action subject to any further information that may come to light. We are considering our enforcement response."

Above are just some examples of the environment offences by Wyke Farms, that prove that the are repeat offenders, and that the exposure of the disgraceful Piggery was not just a once-off.

We will be publishing more, leading up to and during the COP26 Climate Change summit. There will be enough BS being spoken and written in Glasgow for COP26.

So we hope to restore the balance and facts to the reputation of companies like Wyke Farms who are based in Somerset, use questionable marketing and PR claims to market their products. And as we have shown, Wyke Farms' claims do not stand up to much scrutiny. 

Wyke Farms are definitely not 100% Green.