Northumbrian Water has agreed to pay £165,000 to Tyne Rivers Trust after causing an unauthorised discharge from its Horsley Water Treatment Works, which led to a pollution incident at Kitty’s Burn, near Newcastle, in 2018.

Northumbrian Water submitted an Enforcement Undertaking to the Environment Agency, which has now been accepted.

An Enforcement Undertaking is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending.

‘Address and restore’ harm caused

Area Environment Manager, Rachael Caldwell, said:

All businesses, including water companies, have a responsibility to ensure their activities do not present a risk of harm to people and the environment.

When companies fail to meet their environmental obligations, it’s a serious matter and we will take appropriate action, which may include civil sanctions.

Enforcement Undertakings allow companies who fail to comply with legal requirements, or pollute the environment, to positively address and restore any harm caused and prevent repeat incidents.

This payment to Tyne Rivers Trust will help protect and enhance nature in the local area.

Drainage was connected to wrong sewer

Northumbria Water had temporarily contracted a machine to separate liquids at the Horsley site to help the works cope with a period of increased demand, but staff used old drainage plans and mistakenly connected it to a surface water drain rather than a foul sewer.

As a result, the liquid from the process – called centrate, produced when sludge is dewatered – was discharged into a drain which led to Kitty Burn, and which then flowed about 1.3km into the River Tyne.

The Environment Agency attended on 2 November 2018 and enquiries revealed the discharge had been happening sporadically for around eight weeks, with almost eight million litres of centrate discharged. Sampling indicated there had been minimal impact on the ecology of the river.

The Enforcement Undertaking offer from Northumbrian Water details how it has introduced standard operating procedures to ensure that all sites have colour-coded drain covers and on-site signage, that all drains are to be identified and checked against a current site drainage plan, and it has invested in new machinery.

Enforcement Undertakings are one of a number of enforcement options available to the Environment Agency.

Since 2015, the Environment Agency has secured water company court fines of over £137million. Most recently, Northumbrian Water was fined £240,000 at Newcastle Crown Court for polluting Coundon Burn in March 2017; and in October 2021 they were fined £540,000 at Durham Crown Court for polluting a watercourse that runs through Heads Hope Dene in Castle Eden in May 2017.

Thank you Mister Chair. Ambassador Çevik, Ambassador Kinnunen we are grateful for your reports today and all your efforts towards a peaceful and sustainable resolution to the conflict.

Your reports today, as well as the letter issued to the Permanent Council by the Secretary General on 14 February, illustrate the gravity of the current situation, which is clearly fragile.

The UK remains gravely concerned by the massive, unprovoked and unjustified Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s border and in illegally-annexed Crimea.

In this Council I have repeatedly pointed to Russia’s bellicose rhetoric towards Ukraine, as well as its disinformation about alleged Ukrainian actions and the importance of transparency and verification. Indeed, since the beginning of February we have identified over 40 different stories emanating from the Kremlin, promoting unfounded claims in a shameful attempt to justify any future further Russian military action against Ukraine. We support efforts by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) to establish the facts on the ground and provide their impartial reporting on the situation.

In the context of unprecedented tensions in the region, we regret that Russia, once again, has failed to honour its commitments following initiation of the Vienna Document Risk Reduction Mechanism. It is wholly unacceptable that Russia is claiming that Vienna Document Paragraph 16, which requires participating States to “consult and cooperate with each other about any unusual and unscheduled military activities . . . outside their normal peacetime locations”, does not apply.

Despite Russia’s announcement that some Eastern Military District & Western Military District troops are withdrawing to permanent locations, and we are yet to see real evidence of any military withdrawal that would indicate a de-escalation on Russia’s part. Russia continues to mass extraordinary levels of military forces along Ukraine’s border and in illegally annexed Crimea. We call on Russia to abide by its commitments, engage constructively in the confidence building measures – which all participating States have signed up to – and provide much needed transparency around its military activity.

It is the rising threat from Russia that led the UK to temporarily withdraw our seconded personnel to the Special Monitoring Mission out of Ukraine. We are grateful to the Mission for its assistance in facilitating their movement. This decision was made due to the UK’s duty of care responsibilities. The UK remains a strong supporter of the SMM and its mandate. Both we, and the British women and men of the SMM, are ready to keep supporting the Mission in these extraordinary times, and against the backdrop of this unprecedented threat from Russia.

Ambassador Çevik, we remain grateful for the SMM’s impartial, facts-based reporting. We were deeply concerned to see that between 9 September 2021 and 12 January 2022, the SMM recorded a doubling of the use of weapons that should have been withdrawn according to the Minsk agreements. It is noteworthy that during this period, the SMM recorded 477 weapons in violation of their respective withdrawal lines, of which 83 per cent were in non-government controlled areas.

We have, and will continue to condemn unacceptable restrictions and threats directed towards the Mission, including the appalling case on 11 February when a member of the Russian-backed armed formations threatened an SMM patrol with arrest at a border checkpoint on the uncontrolled segment of the Ukraine-Russia State border. This is just one instance of the systematic restrictions of freedom of movement the Mission experiences in non-government controlled areas. Between 9 September 2021 and 12 January 2022, 92 per cent of all SMM freedom of movement restrictions occurred in areas held by the Russia backed armed formations. Once again, we call on Russia to use its undeniable influence over the armed formations it backs to ensure the Mission has safe, free and unimpeded access throughout Ukraine, including Crimea.

Ambassador Kinnunen, we welcome the ongoing efforts by you and your team to make progress on issues that would have a positive impact on the security situation in eastern Ukraine. We welcome your report that the Trilateral Contact Group last week discussed concrete topics, particularly in the Political Working Group, where a number of real, substantive issues related to the political settlement of the conflict were discussed. We hope this will translate into tangible progress towards an end to this conflict in full respect of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia as the instigator, and as a party to this conflict, must match Ukraine’s political will for this to be possible.

We also urge Russia to use its undeniable influence to make progress on issues which continue to have a devastating impact on conflict-affected civilians in eastern Ukraine. This includes the opening of new entry-exit checkpoints along the line of contact, now a year overdue on the Russia backed armed formations side, and on plans for further demining and disengagement areas.

We reiterate our support for the Minsk agreements to deliver a peaceful resolution to the conflict in full respect of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the work of the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four in this regard. We call on Russia to refrain from any unilateral measures that undermine the Minsk agreements and Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and instead focus on implementing its commitments. In this respect, we condemn the action taken by the Russian Duma to propose that the Russian President recognise the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent. This would directly undermine the Minsk agreements and must be clearly rejected by the Russian authorities, in line with their commitments.

Russia must withdraw its military personnel and weapons from the territory of Ukraine; cease its support for the armed formations it backs; and stop access restrictions and intimidation of the SMM in areas held by the Russia-backed armed formations.

The UK strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, including its territorial waters. We do not and will not recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. The UK has consistently stood with Ukraine in opposing all instances of Russian aggression towards Ukraine and we will continue to do so, including through sanctions, together with our international partners.

The Environment Agency is urging coastal communities in the south west and south coasts of England, especially communities along the tidal River Severn and Wye in Gloucestershire, to prepare for expected flooding impacts from Storm Eunice.

The storm is continuing to bring strong winds across the UK, resulting in high waves and a potential storm surge coinciding with high spring tides. As a result of this extreme weather, severe flood warnings, meaning there is a threat to life, will be issued for parts of the tidal Severn Estuary and River Wye in Gloucestershire.

In addition, as of 13:30pm, there are a further 11 flood warnings, meaning that flooding is expected, and 58 flood alerts, meaning that flooding is likely. It is expected that these numbers will rise over the coming hours.

The Environment Agency is working around the clock to help keep communities and people safe. Teams are working to erect barriers, clear screens and close flood gates along the tidal River Severn, the south west of England and other affected areas. Incident rooms have also been scaled up in affected areas to support potentially impacted communities.

Members of the public are also being urged to sign up for free flood warnings and ensure they know what to do in case of flooding.

Stefan Laeger, the Environment Agency’s Flood Duty Manager, said:

The public should take extreme caution as strong winds resulting in a storm surge and large waves are expected bring potentially severe coastal flooding to parts of the west, south-west and south coast of England, as well as the tidal Rivers Severn and Wye in Gloucestershire, from the early hours of Friday morning. This is due to Storm Eunice coinciding with a period of spring tides and large waves. Further spells of heavy rain are expected this weekend.

Environment Agency teams are out on the ground closing gates, erecting barriers and clearing screens where flood debris can build up, and stand ready to operate further flood defences if needed. Flood gates are now shut on north and south coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Working with our partners in local resilience forums, we are planning for emergency response to keep people safe where flooding does occur.

Please remember to take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades. We urge people to stay safe on the coast and warn wave watchers against the unnecessary danger of taking ‘storm selfies’. Flooding of low lying coastal roads is also possible and people should avoid driving through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.

Type ‘check my flood risk’ online to sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date, follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood information or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said:

After the impacts from Storm Dudley for many on Wednesday, Storm Eunice will bring damaging gusts in what could be one of the most impactful storms to affect southern and central parts of the UK for a few years.

The red warning area indicates a significant danger to life as extremely strong winds provide the potential for damage to structures and flying debris. Although the most exposed coastal areas in the south and west could see gusts in excess of 90mph, winds will remain notably strong further inland, with gusts of between 70-80mph for most within the amber warning area.