Anglian Water pays out £95k for pollution that killed 1,500 spawning fish
The company's logo - Credit: Archant
A water company must pay nearly £95,000 after a “catastrophic” sewage leak contaminated a Brentwood brook killing more than 1,500 fish.
Failures at all three Anglian Water pumps at Ingrave Pumping Station, in Middle Road, Ingrave, led to sewage leaving an emergency overflow pipe and polluting more than 4km of Haverings Grove Brook, near Bladens Wood, in April 2011.
The incident is likely to have a significant impact on fish reproduction since many species, such as minnow, stickleback and chub, were spawning at the time.
Anglian Water entered late guilty pleas to breaching two conditions of their environmental permits at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last week.
The firm was fined £50,000 and was ordered to pay the Environment Agency costs of nearly £45,000.
You may also want to watch:
Speaking after the case, Environment Agency officer Peter Cooke said: “This pollution was reported to us by a member of the local community who found the brook grossly polluted with sewage.
“It had a catastrophic impact on fish and was distressing for residents who value the brook for its diverse wildlife.
Most Read
- 1 Demolition 'will now begin' to make way for 120 homes at former campus
- 2 Woman dies after falling from 'substantial height' in Romford
- 3 Hornchurch man to face trial accused of teeth whitening offence
- 4 Signals at Hornchurch 'crash hotspot' now under review
- 5 Rainham flat ravaged by late night blaze
- 6 Altered timetable means fewer fast trains between Romford and Liverpool Street
- 7 Campaigners ‘overjoyed’ and developer to 'consider its next steps' following Gallows Corner Tesco refusal
- 8 Covid-19: How has Havering fared over the last four weeks?
- 9 Major train disruption and cancellations through Barking via Rainham
- 10 Application to install 5G mast in Cranham refused
“After the incident, Environment Agency officers were faced with the unpleasant task of removing more than 1,500 dead fish from the brook, including a significant number of bullhead – a Biodiversity Action Plan species and important food fish for kingfishers and herons.”
At the time of the incident, there were three pumps at Ingrave Pumping Station.
One a day stopped working over three days but no alarms were activated. At one point, this left the pumping station with no operational pumps for 12 hours.
Ms Sarah Le Fevre, defending, said Anglian Water deeply regretted the incident and took some comfort from the scale of the company’s operation with their telemetry system representing one of the largest in Western Europe.
The company was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15..
Read more:
Picture gallery: Brentwood eco gardeners build 3,000 bottle greenhouse
Use Crimestoppers to report environment crimes in Havering
Environmental issues to be debated at Question Time-style event tonight
