Yorkshire Water has been fined £1,600,750 for polluting a
Bradford watercourse in a prosecution brought by the Environment
Agency. It was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and
£22,112.79 in costs.
The company appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court for sentence on
Monday, 18 July, where it pleaded guilty to unauthorised sewage
discharges into Bradford Beck, and breaches of its environmental
permit.
The court heard its George Street detention tank in Bradford was
full for up to eight months during 2018, leading to 25
unauthorised sewage spills into Bradford Beck.
The city centre tank collects and stores a mixture of rainfall
and sewage from the sewer network during times of heavy rainfall.
Once storm conditions have passed the tank operates its pumps to
return the mixture back into the sewers. If it’s a prolonged
event and the tank fills to capacity, it’s designed to overflow
into the watercourse. When operating correctly the tank should be
empty in dry weather.
Over two days in August 2018, the Environment Agency received
four reports of sewage pollution in Bradford Beck. An officer
attended and an investigation, combined with additional
information from the community, led to a request for further data
from Yorkshire Water. The investigation revealed one or both of
the two pumps that emptied the tank were at various times not
working between August 2017 and September 2018. The Environment
Agency concluded the tank was full between January and August
2018, with spikes in the data showing the tank spilled 25 times.
Yorkshire Water was aware the storm pumps were out of action and
of the fact the tank was full. It failed to fix the pumps as soon
as practical, to provide a stand-by pump, to maintain its pumps
and to maintain the overflow.
Information from the community suggested an impact on the
wildlife, including invertebrates and fish in the immediate time
after the August 2018 unauthorised discharge.
Bradford Beck at Ambler Mill, upstream of George Street
District Judge Kitson confirmed that Yorkshire Water knew from
August 2017 that there were significant problems with the George
Street Detention Tank and that it was 100% full from January
2018. He was satisfied Yorkshire Water knew the pumps were not in
operation and had no means of pumping sewage back into the
network. The Judge concluded that the company would have known a
discharge into the tank would cause an unlawful discharge into
the Beck. District Judge Kitson found that Yorkshire Water were
reckless in this offending due to the fact they were taking some
steps but not with sufficient urgency.
Yorkshire Water in mitigation stated that Chief Executive, Nicola
Shaw, was present in court because the company took its
environmental responsibilities seriously. The company was
remorseful and indicated remedial steps were taken to address the
issues. It recognised it had failed to get a grip of the problem,
but it had had co-operated with the investigation.
Ben Hocking, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in
Yorkshire, said:
We take our responsibility to protect the environment very
seriously. Water companies are aware that their activities have
the potential to cause serious environmental impacts and they
have a legal duty to avoid pollution. The regulations are clear.
Yorkshire Water was aware the tank was full and likely to
illegally discharge into the beck and failed to take action to
prevent it from happening. They undermined the permitting
regulations, which are in place to protect the environment.
Our officers carried out a thorough investigation, with the
support of the community, to put the facts before the court as
part of our continuing commitment to hold water companies to
account.
