Anglian Water has been fined £2.65m after pleading guilty to allowing untreated sewage to overflow into the North Sea following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.
The 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 after the spill at the Jaywick Water Recycling Centre in Essex led to sewage being discharged into the sea.
It is the largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in the region.
Since 2010, water companies have been responsible for self-monitoring water recycling sites. Environment Agency Officers carry out audits and inspections of waste water treatment works. Data experts analyse hundreds of thousands of discharges to identify illegal activity which is used as evidence to hold water companies to account.
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.
Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell said: “The Environment Agency’s officers were instrumental in highlighting the scale of Anglian Water’s discharges into the North Sea – equivalent to 3 Olympic swimming pools of waste water in a month – and ensuring the water company has been made to pay for its pollution.
“The Environment Agency will pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties.”
