THE Environment Agency has taken action against drugs giant Pfizer after 12,000 litres of sulphuric acid leaked from one of its tanks.

It is not believed the incident has caused any damage to the environment but an enforcement notice has been served on the company.

The leak was discovered by Pfizer staff at Sandwich who found a bulk tank was empty and that acid had been released into the trade waste system.

An Enforcement Notice was served on the company under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Environment Agency inspector Peter Holroyd said: "We do not currently have evidence that any acid has been lost to the environment but surveys are being carried out on site to confirm this.

"Although significant environmental harm may have been avoided, if failures like this are left uncorrected it could result in more serious incidents occurring with pollution of the environment.

"This enforcement notice will ensure that the company takes urgent action to remedy the fault and ensure that no other damage will occur elsewhere."

The Enforcement Notice requires the company to complete an inspection of all other bulk systems and investigate whether any of the other systems had similar problems.

Jon Coatesworth, director of engineering for Pfizer Global Manufacturing, said: “Pfizer treats environmental matters with the highest priority and sincerely regrets this incident happened.

"We are working with the Environment Agency to identify and assess any potential impact although the evidence to date, from extensive investigation, suggests there has been no adverse effect on the environment.

"The leak was repaired immediately and a thorough review carried out on our other storage facilities. No problems were found. We are continuing to review our systems to ensure this does not happen again."