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Environment Agency records described in a BBC-branded report dated 6 October 2026 say the Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, exceeded permitted pollutant levels hundreds of times in 2023 and 2024. The report says the Environment Agency determined there were 58 permit-condition breaches across those two years. That total is not a count of spill incidents, and a separate criminal investigation into a 2024 oil spill was reported as ongoing.
What the report says happened at Stanlow
Stanlow is operated by EET Fuels, formerly Essar. The BBC-branded report, by climate and science reporter Esme Stallard, says documents from the Environment Agency show repeated pollution-limit exceedances and 58 permit-condition breaches over 2023 and 2024. The report does not provide a complete incident-by-incident ledger, so the total should not be read as 58 separate spills.
The report identifies cyanide, benzene, sulphur dioxide and oil among the pollutants involved. It says recorded levels reached seven times the permitted level for sulphur dioxide, more than eight times for cyanide and more than thirteen times for oil. These are selected comparisons from the documents as described by the report, not a complete account of every pollutant or exceedance.
What happened in the two reported oil incidents?
July 2023: oil in rainwater
The report says rainwater containing oil leaked from the refinery site in July 2023 and that the Environment Agency classified the event as significant. It also describes local complaints about a smell and follow-up indications of groundwater contamination. EET Fuels told the BBC the loss was “on a low scale” and “was strictly localised to two boreholes, all well within the Stanlow site itself”. That is the company’s account, rather than an independently established finding in the report.
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12 September 2024: oil entered Thornton Brook
According to the report’s account of an Environment Agency document, oil was released over 36 hours, with more than a tonne entering Thornton Brook and spreading to the Mersey Estuary. The report says the company took nearly two weeks to provide an estimate, despite a 24-hour reporting requirement, and describes that delay as another breach.
Regulators and other bodies organized an emergency response, including a floating barrier. Cockle beds were closed while water quality was tested, then cleared; the report says they remained closed for five weeks. The Environment Agency later categorized the spill as a minor permit breach. Mark Taylor, chief executive of the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority North West, said the incident delayed fishers’ ability to earn income from the beds; the report says fishers later made up that income.
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What environmental effects were reported?
The River Gowy and Thornton Brook connect to the Mersey Estuary, which the report describes as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), habitat for endangered species and a breeding ground for rare birds. A drone survey described in the report showed oil more than a mile downriver and brown discolouration around a reedbed, with wading birds, including red-listed dunlin, in the area.
At a meeting, Natural England reportedly said: “What has gone in there is going to have some impact on the vegetation and salt marsh and there is probably still a risk of ingestion by birds.” Charlotte Harris, chief executive of Cheshire Wildlife Trust, told the BBC that pollution in a dynamic river system can spread far beyond its immediate source. She also spoke about the recovery of Atlantic salmon and critically endangered European eel in the river system.
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What are regulators investigating, and what has been decided?
The Environment Agency’s reported position differs from Natural England’s because their roles in this case are not the same:
| Issue | Reported status | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 permit offences | The report says the Environment Agency had yet to confirm what action it would take. | The report does not establish that charges or penalties have been imposed for these matters. |
| September 2024 spill | The Environment Agency was reported to have an ongoing criminal investigation. | An investigation is not a finding of criminal guilt, and the report does not give its outcome. |
| Impact on the SSSI | Natural England assessed the protected site’s environmental impact and dropped its investigation. | Natural England told the BBC the impact on the SSSI was minor; its assessment did not decide the separate question of Environment Agency permit compliance. |
The report also reproduces an internal Natural England email saying the permit verified the company’s position that the storm overflow was permitted and had no set limit on the quantity of oil released. Natural England’s reported explanation was that its remit concerned the protected site’s impact, while permit compliance was for the Environment Agency. The two agencies’ reported conclusions therefore address different questions, rather than establishing that there was no pollution or that the Environment Agency’s permit inquiry was resolved.
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How does EET Fuels respond?
EET Fuels said it “takes its environmental responsibilities extremely seriously”. It argued that the historical exceedances highlighted in the report do not represent its current operating status and said it had invested more than £24 million in wastewater infrastructure. The company also cited an improvement in its Environment Agency compliance rating from F in 2023 to E in 2024, saying major capital projects had come online. These investment and rating statements are the company’s claims as reported; they do not by themselves resolve the reported incidents or establish the outcome of the investigations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the refinery matters beyond the site
The BBC-branded report says Stanlow processes 10 million tonnes of crude annually and supplies around 18% of UK road transport fuel. The report is the source for both figures; it does not identify an underlying dataset for them. The scale helps explain why a local pollution incident attracts attention, while the brook’s connection to the estuary explains how contamination can affect waters and habitats beyond the refinery boundary.
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What is established—and what remains unresolved?
- The report attributes to Environment Agency documents 58 permit-condition breaches across 2023 and 2024, following hundreds of pollutant-level exceedances.
- It describes two distinct reported oil incidents: a July 2023 leak involving oily rainwater, and a September 2024 release into Thornton Brook and the Mersey Estuary.
- The report says the Environment Agency’s criminal investigation into the 2024 event was ongoing and that action on the 2023 offences had not been confirmed.
- The full permit, underlying regulator documents, complete exceedance table and any court record are not included in the report material available here. The figures and incident details are therefore attributed to the BBC-branded report’s account of Environment Agency records, rather than independently verified against the underlying files.
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