Anglian Water could and should have reacted quicker to pollution
Dozens of fish killed in Cambridgeshire incident.
Fish stood no chance as sewage flooded Pig Water Drain
Sewage flooding a river for hours was blamed on Anglian Water鈥檚 slow response to the incident.
皇冠体育app company has been fined 拢18,000 for failures at a pumping station near Peterborough that an investigation said showed up their 鈥渞eactive attitude鈥� to pollution.
District judge Ken Sheraton said Anglian Water should have given 鈥渁 higher category of response鈥� to a second sewage pump failing because the site at Yaxley was operating at a lower capacity with another pump already out of order.
皇冠体育app pumps were meant to regulate the flow of effluent but had stopped working a week apart, meaning raw sewage poured into Pig Water Drain for several hours and the damage was done before an engineer arrived at the pumping station in Windsor Road.
Investigators from the Environment Agency said at least 60 fish died with no chance of surviving the incident in February 2019. 皇冠体育app final death toll was believed to be higher, with the fish killed by reduced oxygen and toxic ammonia in the water.
A dog-walker reported a creamy substance on the surface of the watercourse. 皇冠体育app woman said she saw fish leaping from the water like they鈥檇 been electrocuted or attacked.
Louis de Quincey, who led the Environment Agency investigation, said:
With only a single pump in operation, this was always likely to increase the chances of an incident. Anglian Water should have sped up its response time as a result. Many hours passed before a technician stopped sewage entering the water.
Anglian Water could and should have acted quicker.
An Environment Agency officer called to the scene saw effluent gushing into the 鈥済rey and murky鈥� water from a pipe traced back to the pumping station, supposed to control the flow of sewage through the sewer network.
Anglian Water staff seemed blind to the ongoing incident 鈥� one employee telling the technician there was nothing wrong, that no sewage was being pumped into the river.
Roach, pike and eel were among 60 dead fish recovered from the scene, but fisheries specialists from the Environment Agency believe many more would have been killed by a sharp decline in water quality caused by the release of the effluent.
In polluting Pig Water Drain, Anglian Water pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 12 (1) (b) and 38 (1) (a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
Sitting at Peterborough magistrates鈥� court on 4 May 2022, district judge Sheraton also ordered Anglian Water to pay 拢10,957.80 in costs to the Environment Agency and a victim surcharge of 拢170.