Yorkshire Water has volunteered to pay £300,000 for breaching an environmental permit when a sewage discharge caused pollution in Leeds.
The unauthorised spill from a storm tank led to widespread pollution along 3.3km of the Kippax Beck in Leeds in November 2018. The company submitted an enforcement undertaking to the Environment Agency (EA), which the agency accepted, to pay the funds to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The incident occurred when an automated valve system on Yorkshire’s Garforth storm tank failed to open or raise an alarm to technicians that the tank was discharging into the waterway.
Flows in the storm tank are managed by a valve that is supposed to control and isolate sewage. When the valve closes, rainfall and wastewater are diverted to the storm tanks and the company should be alerted. The storm tanks are then monitored via sensors and alarms. In this instance a valve was closed, which led to the discharge into the nearby watercourse but the alarm system had not triggered an alert so appeared to functioning. The company manually opened the valve to stop the discharge.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “Since the incident in 2018 we have repaired, replaced and installed new equipment at our Garforth site to prevent similar issues in the future. We have also given £300,000 to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, money which will be spent in the region to continue to provide excellent land for the people and wildlife of Yorkshire to enjoy. This will benefit our region, unlike fines the Environment Agency secures, which are paid to The Treasury and may not be invested in our region.”
Ben Hocking, area environment manager at the EA, said: “The offer from Yorkshire Water details how it has also taken steps to make improvements, including replacing and repairing machinery and equipment, carrying out a review of alarms, and completing an environmental survey.
“Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will use the donation to fund a series of projects at nature reserves in the Lower Aire valley.”
He called enforcement undertakings an effective enforcement option available to the EA.
The agency was questioned last year in the Environmental Audit Committee’s investigation into river pollution about not acting quickly when permit breaches occur. EA chief executive James Bevan pointed to underfunding and lack of resources that restricted its ability to properly regulate.
In November, Ofwat and the EA launched an investigation into unpermitted breaches of discharge licenses that cause water pollution. David Black, interim Ofwat chief executive, asked all water companies to fully disclose any illicit discharges, why they occurred and what measures were taken to prevent damage.