WATER COMPANY FINED FOR POLLUTING RIVER AT LLANARTH

14/03/2005 - Dwr Cymru Welsh Water pleaded guilty at Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (08.03.05), to causing sewage effluent to be discharged into the river Llethi at Llanarth, near New Quay on two separate occasions in June and July 2004. The company was fined £1,000 for the first occasion and £500 on the second and was ordered to pay full costs of £1,195 to Environment Agency Wales, which brought the prosecution. The offence is contrary to Section 85(3) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

The Court was told that on 3 June 2004 an Environment Agency officer observed sewage effluent discharging from a manhole on the sewerage system at Llanarth and entering the River Llethi. Sewage debris was visible at the point where the effluent entered the river while discolouration of the river extended over a distance of 1km downstream. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water was then contacted to stop the discharge and to arrange clean-up operations. A second pollution from a different surcharging manhole occurred on the same sewer system on 21 July 2004. Both incidents occurred due to blockages on the sewer system.

Following the case Gareth Jones, Team Leader, Environment Management at Environment Agency Wales said: " It is disappointing that two incidents of a similar nature occurred on the same sewer line within a short space of time. The River Llethi enters the sea between the Traeth Glyn and Cei Bach beaches at New Quay and accordingly, discharges of this nature are a particular source of concern to us."