AN INVESTIGATION by an environmental watchdog which found a “leak” at a distillery on the Black Isle after a pollution incident was reported at a nearby river has concluded.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) launched an investigation on September 20 into Singleton Distillery, located at Muir of Ord, after they were alerted by a member of the public of a potential pollution incident.
The investigation found there had been no environmental impact from the incident on the nearby river.
The leak had been discovered through dye tracing back to a manhole chamber on the effluent line, a pipe that carries treated wastewater, from the distillery’s still house to its septic tank.
Mitigation measures were deployed to prevent the escaped wastewater from reaching a nearby river with Sepa confirming the leak was stopped on September 20.
The environmental regulator determined that wastewater from the pipeline would have made its way to a nearby drainage system which led to Logie Burn.
A spokesperson for Sepa said that tests have been carried out to ensure there have been no further leaks at the distillery and that no environmental impact has been detected at Logie Burn through their sampling.
Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery, which is owned by the drinks firm Diageo, has since carried out repairs on the faulty pipeline, the watchdog said.
A Sepa spokesperson said: “SEPA was notified by a member of the public of a potential pollution incident at the Logie Burn near the Singleton distillery, Muir of Ord, on September 20.
“The site operator’s investigation has concluded. Dye tracing found a leak from a manhole chamber on the effluent line from the distillery’s still house to its effluent tank.
“Liquid escaping from the chamber would have been able to percolate through the ground to a nearby surface water drainage channel and find its way into the drainage channel. The leak was stopped on September 20.
“Mitigation measures were deployed to prevent the effluent reaching the Logie Burn and these have now been removed.
“The operator has carried out repairs. Tests have been carried out to ensure these have been effective and that there are no other leak paths.
“Sepa carried out invertebrate sampling on the Logie Burn downstream of the drainage channel on 20 September.
“No issues were found and there does not appear to be any environmental impacts as a result of the spill.”
Diageo has been contacted for comment.
