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Water firm fined £2.1m after pumping raw sewage and chemicals into rivers, killing ‘thousands of fish’

Water firm South West Water has been handed a £2,150,000 fine over illegal water discharge activities and contravening environmental permit conditions.

The private company was handed the largest fine ever imposed in the region for offences, which took place between July 2016 and August 2020 at Lostwithiel, Kilmington, Crediton and Torpoint sewage treatment works and the Watergate Bay sewage pumping station.

District Judge Jo Matson, sitting at Plymouth magistrates’ court on Wednesday, ordered the firm to pay £280,000 costs and £170 victim surcharge on top of the fine, after the company admitted six counts of illegal water discharge activities and seven offences of contravening environmental permit conditions.

However, the fine is minuscule compared to parent company Pennon’s annual profits, which were £127.7m before tax for 2021-22.

Harmful chemicals escaped from the firm’s sites “on more than one occasion,” according to the Environment Agency, which resulted in “significant environmental damage” to sites at Kilmington on the River Axe and in Crediton on the River Creedy. Following the spill at Kilmington, thousands of fish died in the River Axe including some protected species, the agency says.

The firm was also accused of breaching rules in Lostwithiel in July 2016 by pumping raw sewage into the River Fowey for more than 12 hours despite “control room alarms indicating there was an issue with the works”. One month later, an illegal discharge from Watergate Bay sewage pumping station lasted for more than 35 hours, with a sample taken from a stream at the beach showing E. coli levels to be 2,000 times higher than the level that would be classified as poor.

On two occasions effluent from the Torpoint sewage treatment works was pumped into the St John’s Lake Site of Special Scientific Interest – designated due to its variety of bird life and invertebrates.

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said: “We welcome this sentence. Serious pollution is a serious crime – and we have been clear that the polluter must pay.

“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.”

Water Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Water companies should not be letting this happen and those that do will be punished using the full force of the law. This fine reflects the severity of the pollution that occurred across Devon and Cornwall, causing damage to both wildlife and protected sites.

“It will rightly be paid solely from the company’s operating profits and not passed on to customer bills.

“As set out in our recent Plan for Water, fines handed out to water companies that pollute our rivers and seas will be re-invested into a new Water Restoration Fund, which will deliver on-the-ground improvements to our natural environment and water quality.”

Clarissa Newell, of the Environment Agency, said: “Having alarms to alert you that sewage is spilling is no good if no action is taken. Enforcement is intended to prevent these things from happening again and ensure South West Water improve and meet the expectations placed on it.

“Like all water companies, South West Water has a responsibility to operate in accordance with permit conditions and to prevent pollution. Polluters must pay and the Environment Agency will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that they do.”

Susan Davy, chief executive of the Pennon Group, said: “Any pollution incident is one too many. These seven isolated incidents that took place between 2016 and 2020 were unacceptable and it’s right that we have been held to account by the Environment Agency.

“I also want to be clear that this didn’t happen because we don’t care, we do. Everyone who works for South West Water is extremely passionate about our environment and we need to do more to prove this to our customers and visitors to our region.

“We have a plan, it is working and we won’t stop until everyone can feel proud about the performance of their water company in the South West.” 

COO of Pennon Group, John Halsall, said the incidents “were unfortunately the result of a mixture of equipment issues and colleague error.”

He added: “ It was recognised that our colleagues are well trained, and we have strong, established and correct procedures in place. However, we have updated our processes, carried out more regular training to ensure that any issues relating to colleague error are avoided in the future.

“We have fixed equipment issues and have conducted extensive investigations at all relevant sites to ensure all equipment is working well. We have a plan, it is working and we won’t stop until everyone can feel proud about the performance of their water company in the South West.”

Ms Davy trebled her annual salary with an award of more than £1m in bonus, i revealed in August.

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