Anglian Water has been hit with a £2.65 million fine for allowing sewage to overflow into the North Sea.
It is the largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in the region and comes just one day after South West Water was ordered to pay a record £2.1 million for similar sewage failures.
The Environment Agency brought both charges and has vowed to “pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature”.
Anglian Water was found guilty of a catalogue of failures to manage and monitor effluent at the Jaywick Water Recycling Centre in Essex which led to sewage being discharged into the sea.
These discharges occurred because Anglian Water decommissioned a piece of equipment, which led to the conditions for untreated sewage to be released into the North Sea. It also failed to act on available data that would have alerted it to the issue, according to the Environment Agency.
Anglian Water was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £16,520.09 and a victim surcharge of £170 at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, resulting in a total financial penalty of £2,666,690.09.
Sentencing Anglian Water, District Judge King said “more could and should have been done” to prevent this pollution.
He added that it should not have taken Environment Agency officers to spot what was happening during a routine inspection.
He told the court that the record fine reflected the fact that “Anglian Water finds itself in court so frequently” which shows “a clear pattern of the company not responding adequately” to previous penalties.
However, an Anglian Water spokesperson said that they were “disappointed and confused” about the level of the fine.
The spokesperson added: “We apologise wholeheartedly for this incident. We’re very clear that one spill is one too many and we are constantly striving to improve our systems to predict, mitigate and, where possible, eliminate events like these from happening.
“On this occasion, the judge found that there was no harmful impact on the environment, so we are disappointed and confused about the level of the fine and the way it was derived.
“There is no place for spills but fines should be proportionate to the environmental impact. On this occasion the judge agreed that there was none.”
Anglian Water have since taken several actions to address issues found at the site. These included ensuring equipment was in working order, implementing a regular cleaning regime, and increasing the storm flow separation weir height to reduce the possibility of premature overflows.
Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said: “The Environment Agency’s officers were instrumental in highlighting the scale of Anglian Water’s discharges into the North Sea – equivalent to three Olympic swimming pools of waste water in a month – and ensuring the water company has been made to pay for its pollution.
“The Environment Agency will pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties.”
Water Minister Rebecca Pow added: “I am clear that water companies must not profit from environmental damage.
“This latest result follows on the heels of a £2.1 million fine handed to South West Water. In both cases, the fines will rightly be paid solely from the company’s operating profits and not passed on to customer bills.
“Going forward all fines will be paid into our Water Restoration Fund to support projects that will help improve our natural environment and our water quality.”
Pow previously said that pollution fines will be re-invested into a Water Restoration Fund announced last month to deliver improvements to waterways.