24/03/2006
- A serious pollution killing fish over a 3km stretch
of tributary at Winslow, Buckinghamshire could have
been avoided had there been alarms and a secure
area installed by Anglian Water at their sewage
treatment works.
The Environment Agency today (Fri)
prosecuted the water company at Aylesbury Magistrates
Court for causing poisonous, noxious or polluting
matter to get into the tributary of Claydon Brook
off Granborough Road.
Anglian Water was fined £10,000
and ordered to pay full Environment Agency costs
of £3,063 after admitting the offence which
breached the Water Resources Act 1991.
Magistrates were told that there
was an overflow of sewage from Winslow Sewage Treatment
Works in September 2005 following more than a day
of rain leading to a significant increase in the
amount of crude sewage arriving at the works.
To cope with these situations
there is a system in place to allow some of it to
be diverted to storm settlement tanks and only if
these tanks become full does Anglian Water have
permission to discharge into the brook.
But at the time of the offence
the sewage which escaped into the brook came not
from the storm settlement tanks but from the distribution
chamber in the normal system which had overflowed
onto the ground.
It happened when an outlet pipe
from the chamber became partially blocked restricting
the flow of sewage going for treatment. The cause
of the blockage is not known but it was suggested
that it was due to a build up of grit brought into
the sewage works with the heavy rain.
The problem was discovered by
Anglian Water maintenance staff on a Monday morning
and the problem was stopped but by then the sewage
had run across the ground, off site and into a nearby
ditch coating it in a layer of thick sludge and
fat.
Although the ditch was dry closest
to the treatment works, 20 fish were killed by the
sewage, including a very large pike, further downstream
where there was water and there may have been others
in among the thick reeds.
During an interview with Environment
Agency officers Anglian Water admitted there had
been a blockage in the chamber once before which
had been discovered before any overflows occurred.
As a result of the pollution a
high level alarm had now been installed in the distribution
chamber and a bunded (raised) area is to be created
around its base to contain any spillage should there
be any in the future.
Magistrates expressed a concern
that six months after the incident remedial work
still remained to be completed.
After the hearing Environment
Agency investigating officer Emma Smith said: ‘I
am pleased with the outcome of this case. Anglian
Water have co-operated with our investigations and
admitted full responsibility for the pollution.
‘However, this incident could easily have been foreseen
and systems put in place, by Anglian Water, to prevent
the overflow of sewage into the brook.’
The company admitted that: On
or about 12 September 2005 you did cause poisonous,
noxious or polluting matter to enter controlled
waters, namely a ditch tributary of Claydon Brook
off Granborough Road, Winslow in the county of Buckinghamshire.
Contrary to s85(1) Water Resources Act 1991
