Thames Water has been fined £3.33m after thousands and thousands of litres of uncooked sewage flooded 2 rivers close to Gatwick.
Choose Christine Laing KC DL advised Lewes crown courtroom Thames Water intentionally misled the Atmosphere Company throughout its investigation.
The untreated effluent killed a number of thousand fish after gear failed in late 2017, and the consequence was sewage pouring into 1 river after which one other for a number of hours.
Investigators discovered virtually 1,400 lifeless fish in Gatwick Stream and the River Mole, however the courtroom heard this was a fraction of the quantity the Atmosphere Company believes have been killed.
Fish like this massive barbel stood no likelihood as thousands and thousands of litres of sewage was discharged into the water
Many extra would have been misplaced in vegetation and deep swimming pools or eaten by birds and different animals. An Atmosphere Company officer stated the Mole was “carpeted” with lifeless fish. Species killed included a big 6lbs barbel, plus bream, chub, gudgeon, perch, pike and roach.
A pump on the firm’s sewage remedy works in Crawley was activated in error. This led to a storm lagoon discharging sewage and rainwater into the stream, pushing it into the Mole, regardless of there being no important rainfall. The lagoon ought to solely come into operation in moist climate.
Choose Laing heard that within the days after the incident, Thames Water stated its infrastructure had nothing to do with the air pollution. Nonetheless, they later pleaded responsible to 4 breaches of environmental legislation.
Jamie Lloyd, a senior setting officer on the Atmosphere Company and who led the investigation, stated:
“Thames Water missed a number of alternatives to stop this air pollution incident from occurring. Employees seem to have been oblivious to malfunctions on the sewage remedy works main as much as it and did nothing to intervene. When the alarm was raised, no decisive motion was taken till the harm was executed.
“Thames Water did not take duty for the incident till a number of years later – and didn’t present very important data when requested by the Atmosphere Company throughout our investigation.
“We introduced this case because of the main environmental influence induced, and since it was solely avoidable. Thames Water did not have enough techniques in place to handle the pollution-risk from their website and didn’t reply to alarms.”
The Atmosphere Company advised the courtroom it was a “reckless failure” by Thames Water to not put in place techniques to keep away from the air pollution – and to implement them.
The issues began a day earlier than the incident. A pump on the sewage works, within the shadow of Gatwick Airport, began working incorrectly, filling the storm lagoon with untreated sewage. The following day, that effluent overflowed from the lagoon into Gatwick Stream and the River Mole.
Thames Water had allowed untreated sewage to pour into the rivers from the lagoon outdoors of storm circumstances. That was unlawful.
Practically 5 kilometres of river, filled with protected species like European eel and brown trout and numerous different fish, have been in grave hazard. It had been a preferred spot for anglers.
The storm lagoon was solely three-quarters the legally required measurement, that means it crammed up with sewage earlier, discharged into the rivers sooner, giving much less safety to fish.
A visible examine of the storm lagoon would have advised them. Employees may have checked out gear monitoring the rivers and on the water itself. A variety of choices to mitigate the catastrophe have been out there, however all have been missed.
Logbooks revealed workers persistently rated gear as “unsatisfactory” within the months earlier than the incident and several other weeks afterwards.
Thames Water pleaded responsible at an earlier listening to to 4 breaches of the Environmental Allowing (England and Wales) Rules 2016 relating to the air pollution and operation of Crawley sewage remedy works between 9 and 14 October 2017.
Along with the £3.33m wonderful, choose Laing ordered Thames Water to pay the Atmosphere Company’s prices of £128,961.05.
Prosecutions of Thames Water by the Atmosphere Company for air pollution incidents have now led to fines of £35.7m between 2017 and 2023.
