Largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in the East region.
Anglian Water pleaded guilty and was hit with a fine of £2.65m after allowing untreated sewage to overflow into the North Sea following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.
A catalogue of failures by the company to manage and monitor effluent at the Jaywick Water Recycling Centre in Essex led to sewage being discharged into the sea.
These discharges occurred because Anglian Water decommissioned a piece of equipment, which led to the conditions for untreated sewage to be released into the North 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 ordered to pay prosecution costs of £16,520.09 and a victim surcharge of £170 at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court (27 April 2023). Resulting in a total financial penalty of £2,666,690.09.
Since 2010, water companies have been responsible for self-monitoring water recycling sites with the Environment Agency guidance to inspect sites every 8 years.
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 3 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Or 7,500,000 litres. The Jaywick Water Recycling Centre does have an Environment Agency permit, which only allows discharges into the sea during storm conditions.
Commenting on fine, James Wild MP said:
This record fine has been imposed on Anglian Water thanks to the Environment Agency prosecution. As I said in House of Commons, strong penalties are needed to focus water company CEOs & boards on tackling pollution. To report pollution, call EA incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Overall, water quality in our rivers, estuaries and coastal waters has improved greatly over the last few decades. Largely due to robust regulation by the Environment Agency and investment by the water companies.
The number of serious water pollution incidents caused by the water and sewerage companies has been reduced dramatically, from over 500 in the early 1990s down to just 62 in 2021.
The bathing waters around our coasts are in the best state they have been for decades. In 2022, 72% of beaches and inland waters met the ‘Excellent’ standard, the highest since new stringent standards were introduced in 2015.
The court heard how Anglian Water could have done more to prevent these discharges. Data was available to indicate storm flows were occurring in dry weather which should have prompted an investigation by Anglian Water.
There was also no alarm in place to indicate regular storm overflow operation and prompt further investigation. The court also heard how a simple ‘walkover’ inspection would have alerted Anglian Water to the issues.
The blockage was cleared by Anglian Water in August 2018.
Anglian Water have since taken several actions to address issues found at the site. These included ensuring equipment was in working order, implementing a regular cleaning regime, and increasing the storm flow separation weir height to reduce the possibility of premature overflows.
