An agricultural contractor faced a £10,000 bill on 13 December, for polluting two Devon streams.
Michael Tucker pleaded not guilty before Exeter magistrates, but was convicted of two offences under the Water Resources Act 1991. He was fined £8,000 with £2,000 costs.
The pollution came from liquid waste being spread onto farmland in March 2009. The first offence polluted the river Ken. An Environment Agency officer saw effluent draining from a field into a roadside drain. It had been spread by a worker employed by Tucker.
In the second incident, Tucker spread slurry onto a field at Edgeworthy Farm, near Tiverton, but heavy rain washed it into the stream.