Estimated million tonnes of sewage pumped into sea

More than one million tonnes of raw sewage is estimated to have been released from a pumping station into the North Sea in 2023.

Northumbrian Water produced the estimate of how much sewage was released from its Whitburn site after a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from South Tyneside resident Steve Lavelle.

A tribunal ruled the company needed to provide Mr Lavelle with the data.

A spokesperson for the water firm said it has "some of the lowest amounts and durations of spills in the country".

The estimate was provided following several unsuccessful FoI requests by Mr Lavelle, with a first-tier tribunal ruling in April that the firm had to release figures within 35 days.

The water firm's calculations suggest 1.007 million tonnes of sewage was discharged into the North Sea at Whitburn in 2023.

The area along the Whitburn coast is part of the Durham special area of conservation.

Prof Charles Tyler, an environmental biologist at the University of Exeter, said if the estimate is accurate it is an "appalling state of affairs".

Meanwhile, Prof Darren Grocke, a biogeochemist at Durham University, said that if the figure is correct, an "environmental and ecological assessment is urgently needed in the region".

Most of the UK has a combined sewerage system, meaning both rainwater and wastewater are carried in the same pipes, and capacity can sometimes be exceeded during periods of heavy rain.

Northumbrian Water said: "2023 was the UK’s eleventh wettest year on record, with rainfall for the North East around 35% higher than 2022.

"Storm overflows are designed to spill into watercourses, mostly surface water, when rainfall is heavy to prevent flooding in our customer’s streets, homes and businesses.

"Consequently, the data for 2023 shows an increase in the operation of storm overflows."

In 2012 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that sewage discharge by Northumbrian Water at Whitburn broke EU water treatment laws.

This led to a project to upgrade the system which was completed in December 2017.

In 2023 the European Commission wrote to Bob Latimer, a retired engineer, who had put forward the case to the ECJ.

In the letter the Commission said it was "not of the opinion" that "the situation in Whitburn with regard to ongoing spills at the long sea outfall has been sufficiently improved to bring the UK into full compliance with the judgement of the court".

However, as the UK had left the EU, it would no longer be following up with its concerns, the letter said.

In response to the latest FoI figure, Northumbrian Water said: "We have the best environmental record of any water company in England, with no serious pollution incidents throughout the whole of 2023, or any since 2021.

The company also said Whitburn had achieved "excellent" bathing status every year since the guidelines were introduced.

A spokesperson added that, between 2020 and 2025, the firm invested over £80m on upgrading its wastewater network and it plans to spend a further £1.7bn from 2025 to 2030 to stop storm overflow spills.

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