EA data reveals that an unauthorised discharge of slurry was carried out from Temon Farm into Poltross Burn in Brampton in 2022, without an environmental permit.
Poltross Burn is a tributary of the River Irthing, which stretches into the northernmost parts of Cumbria from Northumberland.
The EA agreed to carry out enforcement action for the incident in December 2025.
Owners of Temon Farm will make a contribution of £5,000 to Eden Rivers Trust – a conservation charity safeguarding and improving the area’s rivers.
The owners will also cover the EA’s costs and carry out any action necessary to “stop offending, prevent a recurrence or restore any harm.”
Skirwith Abbey Ltd is set to pay £1,670 to Eden Rivers Trust and cover the EA’s costs after receiving an enforcement notice for the unauthorised discharge of slurry into the Aigill Sike watercourse.
The EA said that the slurry entered the watercourse from land near Abbey Farm, Skirwith due to “failure to apply to plan, apply and take reasonable precautions when spreading organic manure.”
Owners of the farm near Penrith were found to have made four breaches of environmental regulations.
Two of the breaches related to the application of organic manure or manufactured fertiliser to agricultural land.
Skirwith Abbey Ltd did not have an environmental permit for the water discharge activity and failed to ensure “that reasonable precautions are taken to prevent agricultural diffuse pollution resulting from applications.”
The EA accepted to undertake enforcement action in February 2026. However, the incident originally occurred in 2020.
SUBSCRIBE TO SUPPORT TRUSTED LOCAL JOURNALISM
Information posted online by the national arm of the Rivers Trust reveals that an ‘enforcement undertaking’ is “a voluntary offer made by an organisation or individual responsible for a pollution incident.”
It is also a voluntary pledge to “put right the effects of that incident and make sure it cannot happen again.”
EA bosses then decide whether or not to accept the offer.
In both cases, the Cumbrian farms voluntarily submitted an enforcement undertaking.
The EA is a non-departmental public body tasked with “protecting and improving the environment in England.”
