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Tesco fined £8m for fuel leak at English petrol station

British supermarket chain Tesco has been fined a record sum for a single incident of pollution after 23,500 litres of fuel leaked from a petrol station, reports The Guardian.



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The Environment Agency said that 23,500 litres (5,170 gallons) of petrol leaked from a tank over a 29-hour period in Haslingden, UK, in 2014. The company will now have to pay £8 million ($10.1mn) as a fine.

The agency found that Tesco´s “recklessness” resulted in homes being evacuated, residents suffering sickness and a river being contaminated.

“This pollution incident had a dramatically negative impact on the local community and the environment with Langwood brook and the river Irwell severely affected,” said Mark Easedale, an environment manager for the Environment Agency.

An issue with the fuel delivery system and an inadequate alarm system are what caused the large fuel leak to go unseen, according to the investigation. 

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