A judge at Preston Crown Court said UU was guilty of a “reckless failure” for allowing raw sewage to flow into the estuary, and ordered the company to pay the fine as well as £38,501.95 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
UU was charged with breaching three environmental regulations: allowing an illegal water discharge activity; failing to provide a 24 hour telemetry alarm; and failing to ensure the good working order of duty and stand-by pumps.
The sewage discharge happened on 12 May 2013 at a pumping station in King Street, Millom, after a pump failed. The stand-by pump had been taken away for maintenance a month earlier and no alternative pump was fitted, breaching permit conditions.
The pump failed 16 hours before it was picked up by UU during a routine inspection, allowing what the water company called a dilute mixture of storm and wastewater to spill into the estuary. The alarm system that should have alerted engineers to the fault also failed.
Andrew Frankish, Lead Investigating Officer for the Environment Agency, said: “The discharge of such a large quantity of raw sewage had the potential to cause significant deterioration in water quality and harm the environment.
“The Duddon Estuary is internationally important due to its mud flats and saltmarsh, which provide vital habitats for migratory wading birds and an important breeding ground for sea birds.
“At the time of the incident, the estuary was also host to three designated bathing waters, so the health of local communities and visitors was placed at risk.”
UU pleaded guilty to the charges and co-operated with the Environment Agency’s investigation. However, it is now considering an appeal relating to the level of the fine.
UU managing director Steve Fraser said: “We are very sorry this incident happened. We proactively reported it to the Environment Agency ourselves as soon as we became aware of it, and there was no evidence of any ill effects on the environment.
“We have worked closely with the Environment Agency to understand what happened.”
Fraser stated that tankers and temporary pumps helped make sure there were no further discharges were made at the time, and no unpleasant litter was found on the salt marsh.
Since the incident, UU has spent £18 million upgrading sewage disposal and treatment at Millom, including refitting the pumping station, replacing the alarm system, and more than doubling the capacity of the nearby treatment works.