Glastonbury Has Been Fined Thousands For Killing Fish With Its Sewage

Close to 140,000 people take to the Glastonbury grounds every year so you can imagine the waste left behind is something severe, particularly given people spend most of the time downing drinks and eating junk.

As it turns out though, the sewage is a lot worse than you might’ve thought. It’s enough to kill aquatic creatures.

As reported by Dancing Astronaut, the festival has been fined over $60,000 (£31,000) for a sewage leak in 2014 that killed 42 fish. Gallons of human waste leaked into a nearby river, harming the underwater ecosystem and damaging Whitelake River’s water quality.

The district judge Simon Cooper was impressed by the festival’s efforts to rectify what had happened but the Environmental Agency wasn’t so kind, saying that the festival were allowing too many people onto the grounds.

Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis accepted that the festival was in the wrong in regards to the leak but also couldn’t really understand why it took so long for them to reach a ruling.

“It’s a great result and I think we were listened to fairly. I don’t really think it was necessary to get this far. We pleaded guilty to make it easier for them yet they still wanted to pursue this case,” he said.

“I think it was a bit of a waste of time, to be honest with you. It wasn’t that serious a crime really. We did our very, very best when we found the leak – we really did all that we should have done within the timescale.”

You can somewhat understand his frustration given that he’s hosting one of the world’s largest festivals in just under a month.

Watch: The Guardian Talks With The Person In Charge Of Glastonbury Toilets

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