Southern Water slapped with ANOTHER multi-million pound fine over dumping raw sewage

SOUTHERN Water has been slapped with a £2.4million fine after admitting a string of sewage pollution incidents that fouled beaches, killed fish and forced swimming bans across Kent. It marks the second time this year the water giant has been successfully prosecuted by the Environment Agency, with further cases still going through the courts. The latest penalty comes just weeks after Southern Water was hit with a £7.1million fine for pollution that shut several beaches in Thanet for days. This time, the firm was in the dock at Bromley magistrates’ court over incidents that hit the environment around Faversham and Whitstable between 2019 and 2021. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! District judge Stephen Leake heard how Southern Water pumped untreated sewage, sewage debris, diesel and waste matter into the sea and a local brook over a two-year period, including two separate pollution incidents happening at the same time in different locations. The first incident struck in July 2019 when locals reported seeing and smelling diesel in Swalecliffe Brook in Whitstable. It later emerged a generator at Southern Water’s nearby wastewater treatment plant had leaked, sending diesel into the brook and out to sea. Environment Agency staff rushed to the scene and laid absorbent booms in a bid to contain the damage, but the public were warned to keep themselves and their pets out of the water during the height of the summer holidays. Just eight months later, in March 2020, Southern Water struck again when pumps failed at another treatment station, causing untreated sewage to pour into Faversham Creek for three days. The firm also failed to properly report the incident to the Environment Agency, hampering investigators trying to establish what had gone wrong. Most read in Money On the very same day, Swalecliffe Brook was hit for a second time, with sewage and debris found flowing under the main gates of the Brook Road treatment plant, across a grass verge and straight into the sea. An almost identical incident happened again that October. The court also heard how further pollution struck Whitstable in August 2021, just weeks after Southern Water was fined a record £90million for thousands of illegal sewage discharges off the south coast. Investigators discovered around 70 dead fish, including eels, in Swalecliffe Brook after raw sewage poured in from the Brook Road pumping station. Days later, more pollution flowed from the Diamond Road combined sewer overflow. Canterbury City Council was forced to put up warning signs at beaches in Tankerton and Herne Bay, banning swimming for almost a week. The pollution also hit coastal waters near Whitstable Harbour, which is a designated shellfishery. Southern Water pleaded guilty to all five charges under environmental permitting regulations at Medway magistrates’ court back in April. A further pollution incident in Faversham in December 2019 was also taken into account when the firm was sentenced. As well as the £2,416,666.67 fine, judge Leake ordered Southern Water to pay £69,894.04 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge. Lindsay Faulkner, environment manager for the Environment Agency in Kent, said: “We have continued to press Southern Water to improve performance through 700 inspections of their sites in the past year, detailing 400 improvements they needed to take. “We will not hesitate to prosecute for wrongdoing like here.” She added: “The pollution and the disruption to local businesses, and people wanting to enjoy days out, could have been avoided if Southern Water managed operations better. “They didn’t have the checks in place to deal with problems.” Faulkner continued: “Water companies must learn to identify and fix problems before the environment pays the price. “We will continue to hold Southern Water to account.” It comes after the Environment Agency announced legal proceedings in July against Southern Water and seven former staff over alleged breaches of environmental permits and charges of conspiracy to defraud. Southern Water is set to return to court in December over separate, unrelated pollution incidents at Herne Bay, where 49 homes and businesses were flooded with sewage, as well as further cases near Canterbury and Andover in Hampshire. The Environment Agency has now concluded more than 70 prosecutions against water and sewerage firms since 2015, securing total fines of more than £150million. Under current rules, water companies cannot raise customer bills to cover the cost of fines. Instead, the penalties are designed to hit profits, dividends and executive bonuses directly, piling pressure on bosses to clean up their act. Comment now