At the landfill, sewage spilled into rivers for about six hours, killing local fish and wildlife. Credit: EPA/PA
Thames Water was fined £3.3m for a 'reckless' incident in which millions of liters of undiluted sewage were pumped into rivers near Gatwick Airport in 2017.At a two-day sentencing hearing at Lewis Crown Court, it was said that on 11 October 2017 there had been a “significant and prolonged” period of pollution of the Gatwick Creek and the River Mole between Crawley in West Sussex and Horley in Surrey.
Judge Christine Lang KC said on Tuesday that it believes Thames Water has shown a deliberate attempt to mislead the EPA about the incident, such as by excluding water readings and filing a disclaimer report with the regulator.
Thames Water pleaded guilty on February 28 to four charges related to illegal dumping in October 2017, but denied trying to mislead the EPA, arguing instead that “serious mistakes were made.”
< p> The Court learned that the storm pump unexpectedly activated and filled the overflow storm tank, despite the absence of significant rainfall, for 21 hours, which remained unnoticed.
On October 11, 2017, the pump began to pour sewage. into the river for about six hours.
Addressing the UK's largest water company, which had previously been hit with 20 pollution fines, including the largest record fine to date six months prior to the incident, Judge Lang K.S. said: “They had to make every effort to fix the problem areas. .”
2806 Thames Water fights for wastewater control
The punishment comes as the utility giant, which serves 15 million households in London and the Thames Valley, faces fears about its future amid mounting debt.
Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley resigned immediately last week after relinquishing her environmental performance award.
The record for fines for illegal wastewater discharges is held by Southern Water at a cost of £90m across nearly 7,000 cases in Hampshire, Kent and Sussex as part of a prosecution brought by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2021.
In addition to the £3.3m fine, Thames Water was ordered to pay nearly £129,000 in EPA costs.
This latest prosecution means Thames Water paid £35.7m pounds sterling for pollution incidents between 2017 and 2023.
Speaking after the verdict, Jamie Lloyd, who led the EPA investigation, said Thames Water missed several opportunities prevent pollution and failed to provide vital information requested by the regulator.
The senior environmental officer said: “We brought this case because of the serious environmental impact. caused and because it could have been completely avoided.
“Thames Water did not have adequate systems in place to manage the risk of contamination from their site and did not respond to alarms.”
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