Ouch! Anglian Water fined £2.65-million for discharging sewage into the North Sea

                                       

Water companies have a duty to safeguard nature - including estuary-feeding birds such as this greenshank and shelduck

THE company that manages the water requirements in much of eastern England has been slapped with a fine of £2.65-million after allowing untreated sewage to overflow into the North Sea.

Anglian Water pleaded guilty to breaches following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

The company fell foul of the EA over its failure to manage and monitor effluent at the Jaywick Water Recycling Centre near Clacton-on-Sea.

This led to untreated sewage being discharged into the sea.

It failed to act on available data that would have alerted it to the issue. 

There was also a lack of an alarm system to inform the water company of how often these discharges were occurring.

Anglian Water was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £16,520.09 and a victim surcharge of £170.

It is the largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in the region.

Since 2010, water companies have been responsible for self-monitoring water recycling sites, but Environment Agency Officers carry out audits and inspections of waste water treatment works. 

Data experts analyse hundreds of thousands of discharges to identify illegal activity which is used as evidence to hold water companies to account.

An investigation in 2018 found that the discharges into the North Sea recorded over a month between June and July, was the equivalent of more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools. Or 7,500,000 litres.

The Jaywick Water Recycling Centre does have an Environment Agency permit, but this only allows discharges into the sea during storm conditions.

The sentencing judge said "more could and should have been done" to prevent this pollution, noting that EA inspectors  simply "heard, looked and saw" what Anglian Water operatives, who were present on site every day, should have seen.

He expressed disquiet at the frequency with which Anglian Water found itself before the bench, adding that "a clear pattern" had emerged  of the company not responding adequately’ to penalties.

Following the case, Environment Agency chairman Alan Lovell said his organisation would pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or to safeguard nature.

There was also a message from Water Minister Rebecca Pow who said: "I am clear that water companies must not profit from environmental damage.

"This latest result follows on the heels of a £2.1-million fine handed to South West Water. 

"In both cases, the fines will rightly be paid solely from the company’s operating profits and not passed on to customer bills.

"All fines will be paid into our Water Restoration Fund to support projects that will help improve our natural environment and our water quality."

If members of the public are concerned about pollution, they should call EA's  24/7 incident hotline at 0800 80 70 60.