29/06/2005 - After a
four day hearing magistrates sitting at
Newton Abbot today found South West Water
(SWW) guilty of illegally discharging sewage
into the Teign Estuary while it was carrying
out repairs to a sewer.
Sentencing was adjourned until next week
in the case brought by the Environment Agency.
The court heard how, two years ago, holiday
beaches at the popular South Devon resorts
of Teignmouth and Shaldon were red-flagged
by Teignbridge District Council after SWW
badly managed a repair to a leaking pipe
at nearby Bishopsteignton.
The spill occurred during the summer in
2003 when Teignmouth was busy with visitors
and the town’s annual carnival was in full
swing.
As a precautionary measure, Teignbridge
District Council put up red flags and warning
signs advising people not to enter the sea
because of possible health risks.
At the height of the incident around 135,000
litres of sewage an hour was flowing into
the Teign Estuary. It is estimated the total
amount of sewage discharged into the estuary
was 4 million litres.
South West Water of Peninsula House, Rydon
Lane, Exeter magistrates had pleaded not
guilty to causing sewage effluent to be
discharged into controlled waters at Teignmouth,
namely the Bitton Brook. The offence is
contrary to Section 85(3) of the Water Resources
Act 1991.
The spill was discovered on August 1, 2003
by two Environment Agency officers, who
noticed a strong smell of sewage at Polly
Steps as they returned to the harbourside
from a routine sampling trip. Stepping ashore
from their boat, the officers saw sewage
flowing past the slipway and down the river
towards the docks. The sewage was traced
to a culvert at the end of Polly Steps.
Later the same day South West Water contacted
the Environment Agency to say it had shut
down two pumping stations the previous day
to repair a rising sewer main at Bishopsteignton.
The pumping stations, at Bishopsteignton
and Milford Park, receive sewage from the
16,000 population of Teignmouth and Shaldon.
Sewage continued to be pumped to Milford
Park from two other pumping stations after
its pumps had been switched off. This caused
its emergency storage tanks to rapidly fill
and sewers to back up resulting in the discharge
of sewage into the Teign Estuary via the
Bitton Brook.
The court heard that South West Water could
have prevented any pollution if it ran its
own computer model that would have predicted
where a spill might occur and enable the
firm to predict the consequences of any
actin they took.
Initially, South West Water denied it was
responsible for the sewage leak despite
clear evidence of a major spill near one
of its pumping stations.
Tracing the source of the pollution involved
days of detective work by Environment Agency
officers who eventually pin-pointed the
spill to a sewer pipe below the level of
the pumping station’s storm tank overflow.
The Environment Agency was not informed
of the problems at Teignmouth by South West
Water until August 1, more than 24 hours
after the pumps at both sites had been switched
off and more than 12 hours after the first
sewage spill into the Teign. The sewage
discharge continued for over 30 hours.
Magistrates heard the water company could
have prevented most of the spill (3 million
litres) by using the storage capacity at
two of its other pumping stations at Gales
Hill and Shaldon, but had failed to do so.
A water sample taken by the Environment
Agency from a contaminated section of the
brook on August 1, 2003 confirmed the presence
of crude sewage at concentrations which
would have greatly exceeded EC Bathing Water
Directive standards had they applied at
this point.
"This was a major incident that could
have easily been avoided had South West
Water exercised more care in the planning
of its repair works. The sensitivity of
the location should have been recognised
as should the environmental risks associated
with such works," said Geoff Bateman
for the Environment Agency.
"The company’s failure to act resulted
in a significant and prolonged discharge
of crude sewage into the Teign Estuary putting
at risk the health of bathers and other
water users. In the event there were no
health problems reported and environmental
monitoring did not reveal any long term
environmental impact," he added.
The Environment Agency free 24 hour hotline
for pollution and other environmental matters
is 0800 80 70 60.
Note to Editors
The first three days of the hearing were
June 13, 14 and 15 at Totnes magistrates
court.
Teignbridge District Council displayed
red flags and posted warning notices at
three local beaches. These were Teignmouth,
Shaldon and The Ness.
The Environment Agency samples taken after
the incident at the designated EC bathing
waters in the area met the required standards.
Visual impacts rapidly cleared.
Commercial shellfishermen on the Teign
agreed to cease operations over the weekend
of August 2-3, 2003 because of the risk
of contamination of their shellfish grounds
by faecal bacteria.
