13-Jun-2006
- Northumbrian Water Limited was today (Tuesday)
fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £1,251
costs after pleading guilty to causing raw sewage
to escape into a watercourse in Houghton le Spring.
The case was brought by the
Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water having
been charged with breaking section 85(1) of the
Water Resources Act 1991.
Sunderland Magistrates Court
heard that on Tuesday 31 May 2005 the Environment
Agency received a report that the Rainton Burn,
which runs through the Dairy Lane Estate in Houghton
le Spring, was polluted with sewage.
Investigations revealed that
the combined sewage overflow (CSO) outfall situated
at Stanhope Close – designed to ease the flow
of sewage in the sewerage system during wet weather
– was in fact discharging in dry weather conditions.
As a result a large amount of sewage fungus was
noted downstream of the outfall, along with a
considerable amount of sewage litter.
Environment Agency officers
took samples which showed how polluted the discharge
was, and on 2 June also carried out an ecological
survey to assess the impact of the incident on
the Rainton Burn. This revealed that the stream’s
ecology had been seriously damaged over a length
of 700 metres.
Northumbrian Water had attended
the initial incident and began work to remove
a soft blockage that it believed was causing the
outfall to malfunction. When interviewed under
caution by the Environment Agency on 25 August,
the company explained that a hole with rough edges
had formed in the channel of the main sewer pipe.
Rags had become caught on this hole, causing the
system to block. Northumbrian Water had since
replaced the damaged pipe with a new section.
Northumbrian Water also admitted
that it had failed to spot the hole during refurbishment
work designed to cure previous blockage problems,
and that as a result of the incident maintenance
surveillance on the Stanhope Close Combined Sewage
Overflow had been stepped up from a monthly to
a weekly basis.
In its defence, Northumbrian
Water said that the hole had been below the sewage
line. However, the company admitted it still should
have been spotted.
Commenting on the result, Environment
Agency officer Steve Taylor said: “We are pleased
with the court’s verdict which we believe reflects
the severity of the incident.
“The Environment Agency takes
all illegal discharges into watercourses very
seriously and won’t hesitate to prosecute when
and where appropriate.”
Louise Turner
