Thames Water fined £1m over sewage leak

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Thames Water fined £1m over sewage leak

Thames Water has been ordered to pay a record £1m fine, after toxic sewage waste from one of its treatment works leaked into a canal.

The case was brought by the Environment Agency against the water utility after its Thames Valley treatment works repeatedly leaked into a part of the Grand Union Canal in Buckinghamshire between July 2012 and April 2013.

The fine was announced at St Albans Crown Court on Monday after Thames Water pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

The fine is the highest ever in a prosecution brought against a water company by the Environment Agency. Announcing the sentence, Judge Andrew Bright QC said high fines are necessary to ensure organisations take environmental offences more seriously.

"The time has now come for the courts to make clear that very large organisations such as [Thames Water] really must bring about the reforms and improvements for which they say they are striving because if they do not the sentences passed upon them for environmental offences will be sufficiently severe to have a significant impact on their finances," he said.

Emily Rowland, environment officer for the Environment Agency, welcomed the decision and said the agency will do "everything within [its] powers" to safeguard the environment and people affected.

The leaks occurred after faulty inlet screens at the Tring site led the works to block, resulting in sewage debris and sewage sludge being leaked into the canal. Thames Water said it has since spent £30,000 to replace the screens.

Officers attending the site following complaints saw sewage debris including feminine hygiene products and ear buds nearby the outlet of the works. Samples of the discharge taken in January 2013 contained high levels of iron and aluminium, which have toxic impacts on wilflife, and showed a high chemical oxygen demand.

A spokesman for Thames Water said the company regrets the incident and has taken action to ensure it is not repeated.

Source: businessGreen

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