Anglian Water has officially been prosecuted after pleading guilty earlier this year to illegally pumping untreated sewage into a water course that leads to a special area of conservation in Norfolk and feeds into the local public water supply. On Thursday a Basildon court fined the company £300,000, alongside £21,896.56 in costs and a £171 victim surcharge for the pollution in 2018.
The illegal spill took place at one of the company’s pumping stations in Ormesby St Margaret, Norfolk, which discharged untreated sewage into Spring Dyke after a number of unflushable items caused a blockage in the pumping well. Spring Dyke feeds into a public water supply and the court heard it could have impacted drinking water in the area.
10 sewage discharges like this had occurred at the pumping station since 2003. Anglian Water was reportedly aware of the issues at the pumping station as a result but the station still did not have an emergency overflow permit.
At the time of the spill, the Environment Agency officers found high levels of ammonia in the water alongside 4,000 dead fish which had to be dredged out of the water. The significant incident required a substantial effort to help recover the water as well as the fish that survived, taking 11 days to return Spring Dyke to normal.
Ammonia can cause a variety of health issues depending on how much is ingested and in what concentration, ranging from no effects to slight irritation or even heart damage in extreme cases. Sentencing District Judge Williams noted: ”The effect on wildlife was deadly, with a significant number of fish dying and a large number seen in distress. There was an impact on local residents and also a risk that this could have entered the public water supply.”
A spokesperson for Anglian Water told ITV: “We acknowledge that our actions at Ormesby fell well below the high standard we set for ourselves… Since this incident, six years ago, we have fundamentally changed how the Water Recycling side of the business operates. We’ve put in place new processes, invested in new technology and additional monitoring, including specifically at Ormesby, all of which are already working to minimise the risk of anything like this happening again.”