Building firms, two golf clubs, a council, and even a national park are named on the latest list of organisations caught breaking environmental rules in Wales. One firm dumped waste that caused almost £1m worth of damage while some breaches involved illegal spills in rivers.

In the first eight months of this year the Natural Resources Wales (NRW) regulator took action over 78 environmental breaches. But only two of those cases resulted in fines, according to data from Freedom of Information requests by Violation Tracker and shared with WalesOnline.

The majority of the cases were over water quality or waste offences. WalesOnline has been able to approach the following businesses and organisations for comment. If yours would like to add a response to this article please email conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk.

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The most frequent offender was Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, which was responsible for 15 of the 78 breaches recorded on this year's list. You can read more about the controversy over the water company and its response to the criticism here.

Llanishen Golf Club was warned in January over a water quality offence. The club in Cardiff declined to give an explanation for the breach. But an NRW spokesperson told us the offence involved a watercourse in Cefn Onn Park being "impacted with suspended solids for a short stretch". Suspended solids can suffocate fish by coating their gills.

Major developer Taylor Wimpey was ordered to pay £488,772 in May this year following pollution of the River Llwyd and its tributaries in Pontypool. Natural Resources Wales said illegal discharges happened at Edlogan Wharf between January and October 2021. Water run-off from the site had been contaminated with silt. Even after warning letters there were at least six further pollution incidents at the site. The silty water could have clogged the gills of fish and contaminated the water with chemicals from machinery oil, said the regulator.

Taylor Wimpey, which was found guilty at Cwmbran Magistrates' Court of breaching environmental regulations, said: "We take our responsibilities very seriously and cooperated fully with Natural Resources Wales during their investigation... We have since introduced further measures to mitigate potential surface water issues, which remain in place at Edlogan Wharf."

K and MNO Gibbon and Son, which operates a farm near Carmarthen, was warned in February over a water-quality offence. Owner Kenneth Gibbon told WalesOnline there was a "spillage" involving "surface water or something, I don't know what". He said he "wasn't quite sure what it was" and did not know how it had happened. Mr Gibbon added that the farm had been working on the issue of "clean water and dirty water and that type of thing" for the last six months.

FCM Commercial Services Limited was fined in May this year after three men caused around £934,000 worth of damage to an industrial unit in Wrexham by illegally dumping waste there. The offence came in 2017 when Natural Resources Wales found more than 1,600 tonnes of mixed waste compacted into cube-shaped bales and wrapped in plastic sheeting at a unit on the Llay Industrial Estate. The bales were stacked high to get as many as possible into the building, which eventually became more than three-quarters full. The sheeting was ripped in places and officers could see the bales were made up of plastic, wood, carpet, glass, fibre, and foam.

"Once inside the unit the officers could feel the heat being generated by the bales of waste, whilst there was a strong odour and a large number of flies present," said Natural Resources Wales. "The heat being produced by the waste meant there was a real risk of self-combustion and fire. Had officers not intervened when they did this could have ended in catastrophe for the surrounding area, local environment, and the public.“

One of the culprits, Anthony Gordon Park, was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for 18 months for operating without an environmental permit. Gavin Taylor received the same suspended sentence and Karl Jones was handed 68 hours of unpaid work, both for depositing waste without a permit. And Cheshire-based FCM Commercial Services was ordered to pay £6,500 for illegally transporting and depositing waste.

Enzos Homes Ltd, a developer based in Carmarthenshire, was warned in January over two water-quality offences. Owner Enzo Sauro told us the breach was at the Abbey Woods housing development in Cwmbran. He said: "We'd put all the barriers in and all the ponds – everything as we're supposed to. But because of the amount of rain that particular day or two it overwhelmed the system. That's why they never took any action against us – because we did everything we could to stop any red sandstone water going through."

Mr Sauro added that the water went into a river near the development. He said he had "no idea" why two breaches were recorded as he had only been aware of one. Mr Sauro continued: "Even the Environment Agency said: 'Enzo, you've done everything you can – all the systems were in place but unfortunately the weather has overwhelmed the system.'"

Swansea Council was warned over a waste offence in January. A council spokesman said: "The minor breach relates to a trial recycling process we were exploring with a local recycling company. This involved trialling the recycling of green sacks residents place out for collection when disposing of cans and glass. During the trial a small amount of cans made it through the debagging process and we believe this was noted by Natural Resources Wales. Importantly the presence of the cans in the plastic recycling trial had no adverse environmental impact."

In January and March National Grid Electricity Distribution was warned over two water-quality offences. A spokesman for the supplier, which is the UK’s largest electricity network, said the first warning was over "a discharge of silty water" into a watercourse at Gwent Levels, St Brides, while workers were laying cables during heavy rain. He added: "As a result all operational staff have been advised on the use of sediment filtration devices."

The National Grid spokesman said the second warning was for a leak of cable fluid from an underground tank in Newport, which has since been replaced with tanks above ground. "The tank fed the fluid-filled cables underground and was located below ground just off Traston Road," he added. "Remedial measures have been put in place and we remain committed to high standards of environmental care in Wales.”

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, which exists to protect the area's natural beauty, was warned over a water-quality offence. A spokeswoman for the authority said: “The incident, which occurred in February, involved drainage clearance by a contractor employed by the authority at Poppit Sands car park to ensure run-off water from the car park and overflow field drains freely. Due to an increase in natural algae growing in the drain the run-off water contained greater levels of sediment which caused temporary discolouration of the stream water. Following a site visit from Natural Resources Wales sediment capture measures were installed to prevent further release of algae sediment into the Teifi Estuary while the drainage work was completed." The authority, which is made up of members appointed by Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire council, added: "As a result of the breach we are reviewing our process for procuring and monitoring the work of contractors."

The Range Home and Leisure Ltd, part of The Range retail giant that has stores across the UK, was warned in March over an offence involving the shipment of waste. The offence took place at Pembroke Dock and involved waste destined for a recycling hub. The Range, which revealed sales of £1.26bn and a loss of £11.7m in its latest accounts, did not give an explanation for the breach.

Williams Plant Hire Ltd, based in Powys, was warned in March over a waste offence. Its director Andrew Williams said: "The breach was involving storage of several skips on our own transfer site in Aberbechan, which were being temporarily stored outside of a containment building prior to tipping. The reason for this was due to an extremely busy period and processing was at maximum capacity. We are currently in the process of constructing a new building to store the skips to avoid this happening again. The skips contained non-hazardous construction waste."

Knights Brown, a construction firm involved in major projects including the £30mn Cardiff coastal defence scheme, was warned in January over a water-quality offence. A spokeswoman for the company said the incident was "low-level impact" and that "all necessary action to prevent recurrence" had been taken. She declined to give any details of what the breach involved.

Fiberight Ltd, a waste management service based in Swansea, was warned in January over a waste offence. Managing director Nick Thompson said: "We were judged to be in breach of a technical point of our pre-permit exemption. There was no environmental impact, no fine or any other form of punishment. We cooperated fully with NRW to rectify the issue and remove a batch of material which was deemed to have been coded incorrectly by a supplier. The plant is now fully permitted."

Cardiff-based Celsa Steel UK, the largest steel recycling company in the UK, was warned in April over an offence involving the shipment of waste. A spokeswoman for the company said there was an "administrative error in Transfrontier Shipment documents for baled and de-polluted end-of-life vehicles to be fragmentised" but there was "no release or harm to the environment". She added: "The issue stemmed from a documentation error, promptly resolved. Subsequent document training has been implemented to prevent recurrence."

Intelligent Lifecycle Solutions, a recycling company based in Williamstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was warned in May over a waste offence. Its director Jon Godfrey said the issue arose when the company stopped being exempt from providing quarterly hazardous waste returns. Mr Godfrey said the business committed a "minor offence" by not submitting the returns on time but added: "This information has now been submitted after we were set up on the system and we have remained up to date... It’s unfortunate and upsetting that this fell between the gaps. We take compliance very seriously and will remain attentive and responsive to all and future regulations, paying particular attention to changes."

Arms giant BAE Systems was warned over a breach of the Water Resources Act. BAE, which has a weapons factory in Glascoed, Monmouthshire, said: “In May we notified Natural Resources Wales that a blocked drain at our Glascoed site resulted in a small overflow into surface water. This was identified by our on-site monitoring systems, quickly rectified, and action was taken to prevent any re-occurrence.”

Checkfire, a Caerphilly-based fire extinguisher supplier, was warned in May over a water resources offence. Its spokesman said "corrective actions were taken immediately". The company declined to give any details of the offence.

Shotton Mill Ltd, which has a paper mill in Deeside, was warned in May over an offence involving the shipment of waste. The company said the warning was over containers dispatched to Turkey in a trial shipment intended for an affiliated company. The shipment, which was meant to only include recycled paper, was aimed at "enhancing recycling procedures" but an assessment found there were recycled materials other than paper in some containers. A company spokesman said: "Upon receiving this information Shotton Mill promptly responded and addressed the matter resulting in a warning and no further action."

Borth and Ynyslas Golf Club Ltd, was warned in May over a wildlife and countryside offence in its car park. The Ceredigion course did not give an explanation for the breach.

The Bryn Group, a waste management firm run by the Price family from Gelliargwellt Farm in Hengoed, was cautioned twice in February over a waste offence. One caution was for the Bryn Aggregates department, the other for Bryn Recycling. The business did not give an explanation for the breach.

Deliserve Ltd, which bills itself as south Wales' "premier distributor of bacon", was warned in August over a waste offence. The Newport firm did not give an explanation for the breach.

Aggregates Express Ltd, based in Efail Isaf, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was warned in January over a water-quality offence. The business, which leases building machinery, did not give an explanation for the breach.

Tilhill Forestry Limited, a woodland management service, was warned in January over a water-quality offence. The company, which has offices in Carmarthenshire and Gwynedd, did not give an explanation for the breach.

Mark Hunter Ltd trades as Totally Welsh and bottles milk in Haverfordwest. The business was warned in January over a water-quality offence. It did not give an explanation for the breach.

Rail Operations Group Limited, which operates trains on behalf of rolling stock companies, was warned in January over a waste offence. The Derby-based company did not give an explanation for the breach.

John Jones Civil Engineering and Groundworks Ltd, which is based in Builth Wells, Powys, was warned in January over a waste offence. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Rexel UK Ltd, an electrical products wholesaler, was warned in January over a waste offence. The Birmingham-based business did not give an explanation for the breach.

Ammanford Recycling Limited was warned in February over two waste offences and again in March over three waste offences. The scrap yard did not give an explanation for the breaches.

Cardigan Metal Recycling Ltd was warned in February over a waste offence. The scrap yard in Ceredigion did not give an explanation for the breach.

Morgans of Usk, a steel supplier based in Newport, was warned in February over a waste offence. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

McCarthy Plant (Bridgend), a plant hire company based in Pyle, was warned in February over a water-quality offence. The business declined to give an explanation for the breach.

M.H. Davies Contractors Limited, based in Sennybridge, Powys, was warned in February over a flood offence. The road-building company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Parry & Evans Recycling Services Ltd, which has recycling centres in Welshpool and Deeside, was warned in February over an offence involving the shipment of waste. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

SOS Plant Hire Ltd was warned in February over a waste offence. The company, which serves customers in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire, declined to give an explanation for the breach.

Mansel Davies and Son Ltd, a haulier based in the Pembrokeshire village of Llanfyrnach, was warned in February over a water-quality offence. The company did not give an explanation for its breach.

Caernarfon Commercials Hire Ltd, which leases construction equipment, was warned in March over a water-quality offence. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Tom Prichard Contracting Limited, based in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was warned in March over a water-quality offence. The firm, which offers construction and recycling services, did not give an explanation for the breach.

Llanmoor Development CO. Limited, based in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was warned in March over a water-quality offence. The housebuilder did not give an explanation for the breach.

Green Steel Works Ltd, based in Rhymney, Caerphilly county, was warned in April over a waste offence. The waste management service did not give an explanation for the breach.

Powys Environmental Ltd, a skip hire and waste management service, was warned in April over a waste offence. The Llandrindod Wells firm did not give an explanation for the breach.

Wastesavers, a Newport recycling service, was warned in April over an offence involving the shipment of waste. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Hanson Paving & Development Ltd, based in Cardiff, was warned in April over a waste offence. The landscaper did not give an explanation for the breach.

Centregreat Limited, a building and rail infrastructure firm based in Bridgend, was warned in June over a water-quality offence. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

J Ellis Williams & Sons (Rhosneigr) Limited, a construction firm based on Anglesey, was warned in July over a waste offence. The company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Beard Construction & Landscapes Ltd, based in Hertfordshire, was warned in July over a water resources offence. The firm did not give an explanation for the breach.

Caldwell Construction Ltd was warned in January over a water-quality offence. The Stoke-on-Trent-based building company did not give an explanation for the breach.

Philip Mattera, a research director involved in the Violation Tracker project, was struck that Natural Resources Wales action has only led to 50 fines across 880 breaches in recent years – and only two out of 78 in 2023. He said this "suggests NRW's enforcement practices may need to be stricter to bring about higher levels of compliance".

An NRW spokesperson said: “Compliance and enforcement is an essential part of our toolkit to protect our environment, prevent and minimise pollution and support the efforts to tackle the climate and nature emergencies. These enforcement undertakings can be instrumental in bringing businesses into compliance with environmental law and requirements, and can change the behaviour and improve practices of the offender so that the environment and communities can benefit sooner. We will always prioritise cases for prosecution where we have clear evidence of a serious environmental impact, and where our action will lead to a positive benefit to the environment.”