Anglian Water has been fined £560,170 after failing to stop raw sewage being discharged into a river for 23 hours, killing 5,000 fish.
Around 6 million litres of raw sewage was discharged into the River Great Ouse at Brackley, Northamptonshire. It killed thousands of fish and spread a total of 12 kilometres down the river.
The discharge, from the emergency overflow at the pumping station, started just before 6pm on 24 May in 2017. It was not stopped until around 5pm the next day, 23 hours later.
Electrical faults caused the pumps to stop. Then a failure of the early warning alarm system, put in place to alert Anglian Water staff of an issue, meant the discharge went unnoticed.
Fish including brown trout, chub and pike were killed, as well as smaller species such as bullhead, dace, stone loach, minnow, gudgeon and 79 brook lampreys. Dead signal crayfish were also observed.
Anglian Water pleaded guilty to a breach of permit. They were ordered to pay a fine of £510,000, costs of £50,000 and a victim surcharge of £170 at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 12 January 2023.
Environment Manager at the Environment Agency, Andrew Raine, said:
“The environmental impact of this pollution was substantial, resulting in a large scale fish kill and affecting 12 kilometres of the upper River Great Ouse.
“Polluters should always be held to account, as much as our resources allow, we will always investigate significant pollution incidents and bring those responsible before the courts.
“We are grateful that the level of fine acknowledges the damage to the river ecosystems that this sewage spill from Anglian Water has caused.”
The court heard how an electrical failure caused the pumps to stop working and another electrical fault prevented the back-up system from working. This was further compounded by the failure of an alarm system which was meant to notify staff there was a discharge.
Brackley Terminal Pumping Station pumps sewage from within the town of Brackley to be treated at sewage works 1.3 kilometres to the east of the town.
A number of incidents were reported to the Environment Agency by members of the public and landowners, including numerous sightings of dead fish on the river.
A dog walker spotted 20 to 30 dying fish being carried by the river flow, gasping for breath belly up or tail up in the river.
She also reported a large trout following the riverbank, jumping out of the water and rubbing itself along the bank as it went downstream.
Investigating Environment Agency officers also reported finding the bed of a watercourse that flows into the river was completely covered in sewage debris. This included panty liners and tampons.
There was also fresh waste materials more than 4 inches up the banks, indicating levels had been higher recently despite no rain for the last few days.
