Environment Agency secures £275,000 from Anglian Water
Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water for two permit breaches and an illegal discharge from sites in Lincolnshire
The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water Services that will see £275,000 go towards environmental improvement projects across Lincolnshire.
This comes after two permit breaches led to unauthorised sewage being discharged into the North Sea.
Anglian Water Services submitted the Enforcement Undertaking offer following a detailed investigation by the Environment Agency into the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station in August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre in August 2020 and September 2022.
The investigation identified a combination of contributing factors, including underinvestment, and inadequate monitoring and management of both the treatment process and the sewer network. The discharges were to the North Sea via a long-sea outfall and the actual environmental harm is unknown.
The company has since taken action to improve and control sludge levels at the sewage works including installing a new settlement tank, increasing monitoring efforts and enlisting the help of specialist contractors.
Alongside the offer to East Mercia Rivers Trust, the company will also reimburse the Environment Agency’s investigation costs.
This Enforcement Undertaking comes amid a strengthened crackdown on pollution and poor performance across the water industry.
In the last year, a record £8.5 million has been paid by water companies into environmental restoration across the country, almost double the year before.
Enforcement Undertakings are legally binding agreements between the Environment Agency and those that have breached environmental regulations.
The person offering the EU is required to take steps to prevent a repeat of the offending and to put right the damage caused.
Photo courtesy of East Mercia Rivers Trust shows Witham Catchment at Thunker Beck in Lincolnshire.
Marcus Sibley, Environment Agency Water Regulation Manager, said:
It is unacceptable that water companies continue to pollute our watercourses and we will continue to prosecute the most serious offenders, but in some cases Enforcement Undertakings allow wrongdoings to be corrected and environmental harm to be compensated by the companies who cause it.
The £275,000 offered to East Mercia Rivers Trust will be invested throughout the Witham catchment area delivering real benefits for local people and local wildlife, and improving our endangered chalk streams.
Water companies will be held to account for poor performance, and we will continue to drive meaningful improvements, clean up the waterways and crackdown on persistent offenders.
Rachel Butler, CEO of East Mercia Rivers Trust, said
East Mercia Rivers Trust is clear; we do not want to see pollution incidents happening in the first place. Prevention must always come first. Where enforcement does secure investment, it is critical that funding is used to deliver real, lasting environmental gain.
This contribution will be directed into the Witham catchment, supporting work across a landscape that includes internationally rare chalk streams and often overlooked but equally degraded yet ecologically important limestone watercourses. The funding will help us accelerate targeted restoration and habitat improvement.
In March the Environment Agency announced it had completed more than 10,000 inspections of water company assets over the past year, including over 1800 inspections at premises owned by Anglian Water Services.
The Environment Agency has a range of powers to deal with breaches, from warnings, advice and guidance through to prosecution. These enforcement measures are supported by local actions that tackle the root causes of breaches, helping to prevent future offending and reduce environmental impacts.
Background
The offences were:
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Operating without or other than in accordance with an environmental permit (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (1).
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Failure to comply with a permit condition (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (2).
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The offences relate to the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station, Lincolnshire into Croft Bank Drain on 25 August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre between 25 August 2020 and 26 August 2020; and between 24 September 2022 and 25 September 2022.
Enforcement Undertakings:
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Enforcement Undertakings are a civil sanction available under the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010. They are a legally binding agreement accepted by the Environment Agency.
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The Environment Agency may accept an Enforcement Undertaking where it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person offering the Undertaking has committed an offence.
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It will only consider accepting an Enforcement Undertaking for cases where the offer itself addresses the cause and effect of the offending; or the offer protects, restores or enhances the environment.
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The Environment Agency continues to prosecute organisations and individuals for environmental offences where evidence shows high levels of culpability and serious environmental harm.
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Photo courtesy of East Mercia Rivers Trust shows Witham Catchment at Thunker Beck in Lincolnshire.