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Anglian Water fined £1.2m for causing pollution

Environment Agency Sewage that has poured off the bridleway into the tributary of Bourn BrookEnvironment Agency
The Environment Agency said this image showed sewage that had poured off the bridleway and into the tributary of Bourn Brook in Cambridgeshire

Anglian Water has been fined more than £1.2m after admitting causing pollution in three counties.

System and maintenance failures led to incidents in Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire in 2019, the Environment Agency (EA) said.

In a separate case, a pumped sewer in Cambridgeshire burst in 2019, the sixth time in several years.

Anglian Water pleaded guilty to charges in both cases, brought by EA and heard by magistrates.

The company was fined £870,000 by Loughborough magistrates on Wednesday after a series of process failures "caused damaging blockages and pollution" between May and September, EA said.

After one particular incident, a subsequent biological survey showed dead aquatic invertebrates for 1,500m (4,921ft), the agency added.

At another site, an unchecked build-up of cotton buds and sanitary pads caused a blockage, resulting in discharge of "settled sludge" into the treated sewage, EA said.

The company admitted failing to comply with an environment permit condition in Steeple Claydon, near Buckingham.

It also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with permit conditions over final effluent discharges into the River Lark in Cambridgeshire and over water discharge activity into the River Tove in Northamptonshire.

The company also admitted causing poisonous, noxious, or polluting matter to enter inland freshwaters without an environmental permit and was fined £350,000 by Cambridge magistrates on Thursday.

The Environment Agency said officers visiting a pumped sewer at Bourn Brook in Caldecote, near Cambridge, found ammonia and low oxygen levels in the water, posing a potential risk to wildlife at the site.

Anglian Water's methods of preventing pollution spreading "proved insufficient", the agency added, and 4km (2.4 miles) of the watercourse was affected for at least five days.

The company only located air valves, designed to reduce stress on the sewer, after the incident took place. The valves had been in place for at least 25 years, EA said.

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