Severn Trent Water Ltd pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates’ Court on Friday last week to one charge relating to a breach of their environmental permit conditions. The company was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £2,046.66 in costs.
In a case brought by the Environment Agency, Severn Trent Water was charged with breaching a condition of its Environmental Permit by exceeeding the upper tier limit for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) under Section 38(2) and Regulation 12 (1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.
Severn Trent Water Ltd at Rushmoor Sewage Treatment Works discharges into the River Tern, near Telford. The permit that the site operates within ensures that the performance of the site is not allowed to adversely affect the local watercourse. The permit requires Operator Self Monitoring (OSM), which involves samples being taken from the treated effluent at the sewage works on specific dates and the results being entered on the OSM system.
On 10 November 2011 when sampling took place by an external consultant, they noticed pollution in the final effluent which indicated a failure within the works. The effluent leads directly into the River Tern. The pollution was reported to Severn Trent Water straight away but the company failed to inform the Environment Agency until 18 November 2011.
Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said:
“Severn Trent Water should have informed us of the incident immediately so that we could monitor the impact on the River Tern and take any necessary remedial action. By failing to do this, they significantly increased the risk of harm to aquatic life and environmental damage to the watercourse. This case sends out a clear message that we will not hesitate to prosecute as necessary when companies fail to comply with their environmental permit conditions.”
In mitigation, Severn Trent Water said that they had cooperated fully with the Environment Agency’s investigation and apologised for the breach of their permit. Once the polluting discharge was discovered, steps were taken very quickly to stop it, and since the incident the company has made improvements to prevent recurrence.
On 10 November 2011 Severn Trent Water Limited at Rushmoor Sewage Treatment Works did breach condition 8 of Environmental Permit S/04/55141/R in that the upper tier limit for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) was exceeded contrary to Regulation 38(2) and Regulation 12 (1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.
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