Anglian Water Services Ltd has agreed to pay £100,000 to a local community interest company following a pollution incident in Peterborough.

Anglian Water paid the sum to River Nene Regional Park, a local social enterprise. The payment follows a pollution incident at Anglian Water’s Flag Fen Water Recycling Centre (WRC).

In May 2013, storm tanks at Flag Fen WRC overflowed, discharging untreated sewage into the Counter Drain. Although the overflow occurred throughout May 2013, the environmental impact was localised and short-lived. It only affected the Counter Drain, and did not adversely affect the River Nene.

Because this was not a case of severe pollution, the Environment Agency decided to agree to a civil sanction called an Enforcement Undertaking (EU). Under the terms of this EU, Anglian Water offered to make a donation of £100,000 to the River Nene Regional Park. This donation will enable the River Nene Regional Park to employ a River Restoration Officer.

As part of the EU, Anglian Water has also agreed to take action to ensure that a similar incident does not recur. The company paid £13,486.43 in costs to the EA.

Along with prosecutions, the Environment Agency use enforcement notices, stop notices and civil sanctions to either improve performance or stop sites from operating. It is making better use of the wide range of measures that are available to bring sites back into compliance as quickly as possible.

The Environment Agency’s use of civil sanctions is in line with recent legislation extending their availability for more offences.

Civil sanctions such as these can be a proportionate and cost-effective way for businesses to make amends for less serious environmental offences.

Yvonne Daly, Environment Manager with the Environment Agency, said:
“We work hard to protect people and the environment. In this case, we considered that the Enforcement Undertaking was an appropriate way to sanction the company while creating a benefit for the environment.

“Serious pollution can have devastating effects on rivers, fields and wildlife. In the most severe cases, we will still prosecute offenders.”

The Enforcement Undertaking requires Anglian Water to:

• Make a donation of £100,000 to the River Nene Regional Park Community Interest Company
• Make improvements to site operations
• Pay Environment Agency £13,486.43 in costs

Failure to comply with an EU may result in the offender being prosecuted for the original offence. Details of Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency can be found on our website here.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Anglian Water Services Ltd discharged sewage effluent into the Counter Drain from Flag Fen Water Recycling Centre, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire between 8 May and 1 June 2013. This is contrary to section 4(1) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

• The EU was accepted on 12 July 2016.

Anglian Water Services Ltd will be paying £100,000 to a local charity Rockingham Forest Trust to make amends for discharging crude sewage into the Willow Brook in Corby.

The company has also agreed to undertake site improvement works, and will pay the Environment Agency costs as part of a civil sanction called an Enforcement Undertaking (EU).

The pollution occurred on 21 June 2014, when crude sewage was released into the Willow Brook in Corby, Northamptonshire. This sewage resulted in pollution along 6 kilometres of the brook, leading to numerous reports of discoloured water as well as the death of up to 500 fish.

Upon inspection Environment Agency officers found that this pollution originated from Corby Water Recycling Works, which is owned by Anglian Water Services. Anglian Water had been aware of a serious problem at the Corby site since 3pm on 21 June, but failed to notify the Environment Agency until officers of the EA came to the water recycling centre in the evening.

Following the incident, Anglian Water agreed under the terms of an EU to make a financial contribution of £100,000 to Rockingham Forest Trust, a local environmental charity which manages areas including the water environment in the Nene Valley.

Anglian Water also made improvements to the site to prevent similar incidents recurring in the future, and paid £14,834.10 in costs to the EA.

Along with prosecutions, the Environment Agency uses enforcement notices, stop notices and civil sanctions to either improve performance or stop sites from operating. It is making better use of the wide range of measures that are available to bring sites back into compliance as quickly as possible.

The Environment Agency’s use of civil sanctions is in line with recent legislation extending their availability for more offences.

Civil sanctions such as these can be a proportionate and cost-effective way for businesses to make amends for less serious environmental offences.

Yvonne Daly, Environment Manager with the Environment Agency, said:

We will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases. However, we felt the Enforcement Undertaking was the most appropriate sanction in this case.

We felt it to be a more proportionate response that would benefit the environment – achieving more than if the company had been convicted and fined.

The Enforcement Undertaking requires Anglian Water to:

• Make a donation of £100,000 to the Rockingham Forest Trust
• Make improvements to site operations
• Pay Environment Agency £14,834.10 in costs

Failure to comply with an EU may result in the offender being prosecuted for the original offence. Details of Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency can be found on our website here.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• On 21 June 2014, Anglian Water Services Ltd put sewage effluent into waters containing fish, namely the Willow Brook in Corby, Northamptonshire, to such an extent as to cause the said waters to be poisonous or injurious to fish or the spawning grounds, spawn or food of fish. This was contrary to Section 4(1) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

• This Enforcement Undertaking was accepted on 29 November 2016.

Anglian Water Services Ltd will be paying £100,000 to a local charity Rockingham Forest Trust to make amends for discharging crude sewage into the Willow Brook in Corby.

The company has also agreed to undertake site improvement works, and will pay the Environment Agency costs as part of a civil sanction called an Enforcement Undertaking (EU).

The pollution occurred on 21 June 2014, when crude sewage was released into the Willow Brook in Corby, Northamptonshire. This sewage resulted in pollution along 6 kilometres of the brook, leading to numerous reports of discoloured water as well as the death of up to 500 fish.

Upon inspection Environment Agency officers found that this pollution originated from Corby Water Recycling Works, which is owned by Anglian Water Services. Anglian Water had been aware of a serious problem at the Corby site since 3pm on 21 June, but failed to notify the Environment Agency until officers of the EA came to the water recycling centre in the evening.

Following the incident, Anglian Water agreed under the terms of an EU to make a financial contribution of £100,000 to Rockingham Forest Trust, a local environmental charity which manages areas including the water environment in the Nene Valley.

Anglian Water also made improvements to the site to prevent similar incidents recurring in the future, and paid £14,834.10 in costs to the EA.

Along with prosecutions, the Environment Agency uses enforcement notices, stop notices and civil sanctions to either improve performance or stop sites from operating. It is making better use of the wide range of measures that are available to bring sites back into compliance as quickly as possible.

The Environment Agency’s use of civil sanctions is in line with recent legislation extending their availability for more offences.

Civil sanctions such as these can be a proportionate and cost-effective way for businesses to make amends for less serious environmental offences.

Yvonne Daly, Environment Manager with the Environment Agency, said:

We will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases. However, we felt the Enforcement Undertaking was the most appropriate sanction in this case.

We felt it to be a more proportionate response that would benefit the environment – achieving more than if the company had been convicted and fined.

The Enforcement Undertaking requires Anglian Water to:

• Make a donation of £100,000 to the Rockingham Forest Trust
• Make improvements to site operations
• Pay Environment Agency £14,834.10 in costs

Failure to comply with an EU may result in the offender being prosecuted for the original offence. Details of Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency can be found on our website here.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• On 21 June 2014, Anglian Water Services Ltd put sewage effluent into waters containing fish, namely the Willow Brook in Corby, Northamptonshire, to such an extent as to cause the said waters to be poisonous or injurious to fish or the spawning grounds, spawn or food of fish. This was contrary to Section 4(1) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

• This Enforcement Undertaking was accepted on 29 November 2016.

A Dewsbury man has been handed a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for illegally dumping waste on disused land in Horbury, Wakefield.

Samuel Joseph Stringer Hunter, 25, of Boothroyd Lane, Dewsbury, was sentenced by Kirklees Magistrates’ Court on 27 January following an Environment Agency investigation.

Hunter had denied two environmental offences but was found guilty after a trial.

Lorna Matchett, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that investigating officers discovered the illegal activities in July 2014.

Hunter had been storing waste on land near Bridge Road, near the River Calder behind the Horbury Bridge Industrial Estate, although no environmental permits were in place for the operation.

There were several piles of mixed waste containing treated and untreated wood waste and plastics, and skips belonging to the Hunter Group or Huddersfield Skip Services, both of which were Hunter was involved with at the time.

The defendant claimed that these waste activities were allowed because they were covered by waste permitting exemptions. But the Environment Agency said the waste was being stored in breach of the exemptions: there was too much waste, it was of a type not compliant with the exemptions and it was stored for too long.

Hunter was told to clear the waste from the site, but inspections between October 2014 and January 2015 revealed that much of it remained. There were also signs that waste had been deposited into the ground, which was contaminated with plastic, glass, a trainer and mixed construction and demolition waste.

The court heard that through running the site illegally, Hunter avoided £4,120 in permitting fees and £5,148 by not installing the correct surfacing to prevent pollution to the ground. It is estimated that Hunter received between £6,400 and £18,720 for the waste he brought onto the site.

In sentencing, the chair of the bench said:

These offences were so serious that custody was the only option.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said after the hearing:

Environmental permitting regulations exist to protect the environment and local communities from the risk of harm. Hunter’s activities on this site posed a pollution risk and a fire risk that could have affected the nearby railway line. Hunter also undercut legitimate businesses by avoiding mandatory permitting and infrastructure costs.

We hope this case demonstrates the importance of environmental compliance. Anyone who breaks the rules will be pursued. Anyone who believes waste is being dumped illegally is urged to report the matter to our incident hotline on 0800 807060 so we can investigate.

Prior to sentencing, Hunter told the court in mitigation that he had cleaned up the waste in the shortest possible time.

In addition to the suspended jail term, he was ordered to undertake a rehabilitation activity of 15 days under supervision, and to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months. Hunter must also pay legal costs of £4,640 and a victim surcharge of £150.

A Dewsbury man has been handed a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for illegally dumping waste on disused land in Horbury, Wakefield.

Samuel Joseph Stringer Hunter, 25, of Boothroyd Lane, Dewsbury, was sentenced by Kirklees Magistrates’ Court on 27 January following an Environment Agency investigation.

Hunter had denied two environmental offences but was found guilty after a trial.

Lorna Matchett, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that investigating officers discovered the illegal activities in July 2014.

Hunter had been storing waste on land near Bridge Road, near the River Calder behind the Horbury Bridge Industrial Estate, although no environmental permits were in place for the operation.

There were several piles of mixed waste containing treated and untreated wood waste and plastics, and skips belonging to the Hunter Group or Huddersfield Skip Services, both of which were Hunter was involved with at the time.

The defendant claimed that these waste activities were allowed because they were covered by waste permitting exemptions. But the Environment Agency said the waste was being stored in breach of the exemptions: there was too much waste, it was of a type not compliant with the exemptions and it was stored for too long.

Hunter was told to clear the waste from the site, but inspections between October 2014 and January 2015 revealed that much of it remained. There were also signs that waste had been deposited into the ground, which was contaminated with plastic, glass, a trainer and mixed construction and demolition waste.

The court heard that through running the site illegally, Hunter avoided £4,120 in permitting fees and £5,148 by not installing the correct surfacing to prevent pollution to the ground. It is estimated that Hunter received between £6,400 and £18,720 for the waste he brought onto the site.

In sentencing, the chair of the bench said:

These offences were so serious that custody was the only option.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said after the hearing:

Environmental permitting regulations exist to protect the environment and local communities from the risk of harm. Hunter’s activities on this site posed a pollution risk and a fire risk that could have affected the nearby railway line. Hunter also undercut legitimate businesses by avoiding mandatory permitting and infrastructure costs.

We hope this case demonstrates the importance of environmental compliance. Anyone who breaks the rules will be pursued. Anyone who believes waste is being dumped illegally is urged to report the matter to our incident hotline on 0800 807060 so we can investigate.

Prior to sentencing, Hunter told the court in mitigation that he had cleaned up the waste in the shortest possible time.

In addition to the suspended jail term, he was ordered to undertake a rehabilitation activity of 15 days under supervision, and to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months. Hunter must also pay legal costs of £4,640 and a victim surcharge of £150.