A CHEMICAL plant has won a conservation award just four years after it was at the centre of a pollution incident.

Tonnes of hydrochloric acid escaped from a fractured pipeline into the Greenabella Marsh at bird-rich Seal Sands, near Hartlepool, from the Tioxide works on Tees Road, Greatham, in 1999.

The following year Tioxide, part of the ICI group, was fined £150,000, after admitting three charges brought under the Environmental Protection Act, in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

The court heard that while the escaping acid had taken its toll on invertebrates and worms in the marsh, the leak had had a negligible affect on bird life.

As if to prove that, the works has now won first place in the "commercial site" category in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) annual Business Bird Challenge 2002.

The award has been won with the plant under Huntsman ownership.

The US company took over the complex four months after the leak.

Working alongside local birdwatchers, keen-eyed employees logged 153 species of birds visiting the site throughout the past year.

Among the ever-increasing number of species observed were the velvet scoter, red kite, kingfishers, cuckoos, buzzards and the spotted redshank.

Greatham site director Bill Beattie said: "This award is a fitting tribute to all the hard work completed over the years at the Site.

"Our employees have worked hard alongside the birdwatchers to help us gain this prestigious award, which goes to prove that industry and nature can live happily together at Greatham."

Tony Marron, a safety officer and keen wildlife enthusiast at the Greatham Site, said: "Greatham staff have continued to develop Greenabella and know what an excellent site this is for wildlife, and we want other people in the area to appreciate what we have here.

"A total of 153 species in one year is a record for us, but we hope to beat that in the next challenge in 2004.''

Greenabella Marsh was listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1988, as well as receiving second place in the BTO business challenge. In 2000, the site's SSSI was upgraded to a Special Protection Area of international importance.