Anglian Water has been hit with fines totalling £1,221,000 after
it admitted to causing pollution incidents in two separate court
cases this week.
The water company was ordered to pay £871,000 after a catalogue
of system and maintenance failures caused several incidents of
pollution across Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, and
Northamptonshire across a five-month spell, between May and
September 2019.
The list of process failures included reporting delays, faulty
screening and a general breakdown in planning and maintenance,
all of which caused damaging blockages and pollution. After one
particular incident, a subsequent biological survey showed dead
aquatic invertebrates for 1,500 metres. The court also heard how
at one site an unchecked build-up of ‘unflushables’ such as
cotton buds and sanitary pads caused a blockage resulting in
discharge of settled sludge into the treated sewage.
The site was originally fitted with a screen to prevent blockages
in the process but was removed in 2018. The court heard that
increased cleaning had not taken place and no steps taken to
reduce the risk of blockages caused by the removal of the screen.
The water company was also ordered to pay £37,605.13 in costs at
Loughborough Magistrates (Sep 12).
In a separate court case, heard at Cambridge Magistrates Court,
Anglian Water was sentenced to pay £350,000 after a pumped sewer
at Bourn Brook at Caldecott, Cambridgeshire, burst for the sixth
time in several years. Officers visiting the site in September
2019 found ammonia and low oxygen levels in the water, posing a
potential risk to wildlife at the site. Despite efforts from
Anglian Water to stop the polluted water from spreading, its
methods proved insufficient and a total of 4km of the watercourse
was affected for at least five days.
Since 2004 the sewer, which is only 1.5km long, had burst 6
times. The court found that Anglian Water had been too slow in
putting in place potential mitigation measures. They only located
air valves, designed to reduce stress on the sewer, after the
incident took place. These valves had been in place for at least
25 years.
Anglian Water pleaded guilty to causing poisonous, noxious, or
polluting matter to enter inland freshwaters without an
environmental permit, and were told to pay £28,025.66 in costs as
well as a victim surcharge of £181.
Sir , Chief Executive of the
Environment Agency, said:
“Serious pollution is a serious crime and I welcome these
sentences from the courts.
“The Environment Agency will pursue any water company that fails
to uphold the law or protect nature, and will continue to press
for the strongest possible penalties for those which do not.”
