Mettis Aerospace will pay over £1 million after a 2018 chemical spill killed around 1,000 fish near Redditch; the Environment Agency confirmed an enforcement undertaking on 19 January 2026 in place of prosecution. (gov.uk)

The Agency says an overfilled process tank and failed containment sent a caustic solution containing sodium aluminate into an unprotected surface water drain and then a neighbouring watercourse, causing the fish deaths acknowledged by the company. (gov.uk)

The package includes £504,240 for site upgrades, training and management systems; £111,268 for the initial clean‑up; £22,350 in Agency investigation and compliance costs; and £7,000 for loss of amenity, plus £379,500 for local environmental projects-£1,024,358 in total. (gov.uk)

Four beneficiaries are named by the Environment Agency: Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust (£139,500), Worcestershire Wildlife Trust (£5,000), Forge Mill Needle Museum (£55,000) and Redditch Borough Council (£180,000). (gov.uk)

These groups are rooted locally. The Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust works across Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton to improve urban nature; Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is the county charity managing almost 3,000 acres and dozens of reserves. (bbcwildlife.org.uk)

Forge Mill Needle Museum, at Riverside in Redditch, tells the town’s needle‑making story and shares a site with the Bordesley Abbey ruins-meaning improvement work around the museum is highly visible to local families. (forgemill.org.uk)

An enforcement undertaking is a voluntary but legally binding agreement that allows a business to make good the harm and change its practices, subject to the regulator’s approval. The power sits in the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 and allied 2010 regulations. (legislation.gov.uk)

The Environment Agency says it reserves prosecutions for the most serious cases but uses undertakings to secure swift improvements. In its words, “enforcement undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements”. (gov.uk)

For manufacturers across the Midlands and the North, the message is straightforward: invest in robust secondary containment, operator training and certified management systems before an incident forces the issue. In Redditch, the funding now supports both factory changes and projects intended to prevent a repeat.

The Agency continues to prosecute where it judges it necessary. In November 2024, Wessex Water was fined £500,000 after sewage incidents killed thousands of fish in Wiltshire and Somerset-showing civil undertakings sit alongside court action. (gov.uk)