Judge slams Anglian’s company culture on pollution

A sentencing judge has criticised Anglian Water for dragging its feet in addressing infrastructure improvements relating to three pollution incidents in 2019 that he described in court as “an endemic part of the culture of the organisation”.

The company was fined £871,000 for three separate pollution incidents that damaged waterways in Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

District judge Nick Watson at Loughborough Magistrates Court said the company “dragged its feet” in addressing infrastructure improvements, which he said appeared to be “an endemic part of the culture of the organisation at the time of the offences”.

The Environment Agency (EA) said process failures included reporting delays, faulty screening and a general breakdown in planning and maintenance.

Watson added: “Water companies have a huge responsibility to proactively manage the resources they have been given a responsibility for. Profit must not be at the cost of the environment.”

The company was charged with offences over a five month period in 2019 that included discharge of “poorly treated” sewage from a treatment works where unflushables caused a blockage resulting in discharge of settled sludge into treated sewage.

The EA said a screen to prevent blockages had been removed the previous year and the court heard increased cleaning or other steps to avoid blockages had not been taken.

The second charge was for pollution from a combined sewer overflow (CSO) that the EA said the company delayed reporting by five hours.

The third incident involved a sewage treatment works where a screening unit had not been used and a blockage occurred leading to pollution in the adjacent waterway.

The EA’s chief executive James Bevan welcomed the sentence and underlined that the agency would pursue any company that failed to uphold the law or protect nature. “We will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties for those which do not,” he said.

EA prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley told the court each incident involved missing or inadequate screens that should have strained solid waste from raw sewage. She noted there was a delayed response to each event and a failure by the company to properly invest in and maintain its infrastructure.

A spokesperson for Anglian said: “We take our duty of care to the environment incredibly seriously and deeply regret any negative impact when things go wrong.

“We work tirelessly to protect and enhance the environment, so it is particularly distressing when incidents like this occur.

“We are investing £800 million to help protect and improve the environment and are determined to achieve our zero pollutions goal.”

Defra minister Ranil Jayawardena recently proposed giving the EA the power to issue civil fines up to £250 million, which far exceeds penalties previously imposed through criminal prosecutions. Sector commentators suggested the proposal was merely Defra “playing to the gallery” in the face of public outcry and that civil penalties would not expediate prosecution or bring the best results for the environment.