First Enforcement Undertaking accepted from water company
5 Jun 2014 12:57 PM
The Environment Agency
has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) offer from Wessex Water Services
Limited, in the first case where a civil sanction has been used for an offence
committed by a water company.
The offer includes actions for
Wessex Water to improve its operations and infrastructure, as well as financial
contributions totalling £25,500 to environmental organisations and those
affected by the offending.
It follows a major pollution
incident in Bristol on 11 July 2013, when a blockage in a main sewer resulted
in raw sewage being discharged into the River Trym.
The volume of sewage which
entered the river had a large impact, with 112 eels, 200 sticklebacks, 1000
bullheads all found dead as a result of the pollution and an estimated 90% of
river invertebrates also killed. The incident was reported to the Environment
Agency by concerned members of the public who had seen dead and struggling fish
floating on the surface of the water.
Officers from the local
Environment Management team responded quickly to the incident by attending site
and informing Wessex Water, who took steps to stop the polluting discharge and
prevent further loss of aquatic life. In the following few days, the Agency and
Wessex Water continued to monitor the river, sample the water, and survey the
river to fully assess the impact the pollution incident had on invertebrates
and fish life.
A CCTV survey of the sewer
carried out by Wessex Water found that the cause of the blockage was a build-up
of fat and grease, which had found its way into the system.
Businesses who commit an offence
under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (SAFFA) by discharging
polluting matter into a water course and kill or threaten fish and other
aquatic life are able to offer an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) as an
alternative to prosecution or other sanction.
In any EU, the offender must
offer to restore/remediate the harm caused by the offence, or where that is not
possible, make a financial contribution to a recognised environmental charity
or project to achieve equivalent environmental benefit. The offender must also
demonstrate it will change its behaviour and ensure compliance with
environmental legislation.
This was accepted from Wessex
Water because it was felt a more proportionate response, that would benefit the
environment.
Nick Hayden for the Environment
Agency said:
We did initially consider
prosecution due to the serious environmental harm it had caused. However, the
company then submitted an Enforcement Undertaking (EU), which we subsequently
accepted, as we considered it was a more proportionate response and that it
would achieve more for the environment than if the company had been convicted
and fined.
The actions offered in the
accepted EU, require Wessex Water to:
• make improvements to its
sewers in the area by installing and improving telemetry; • pay
£15,000 to the Sustainable Eels Group, to put eels back into the affected
River Trym and Bristol rivers; • pay £10,000 to the Bristol Avon
Rivers Trust (BART) for work in the catchment; • pay £500
compensation to Henbury Golf Club for the impact to its business; and •
payment of our 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 between February
and May 2014 can be found on GOV.UK.