Environment Agency | The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water Services that will see £275,000 go towards environmental improvement projects across Lincolnshire.
This comes after two permit breaches led to unauthorised sewage being discharged into the North Sea.
Anglian Water Services submitted the Enforcement Undertaking offer following a detailed investigation by the Environment Agency into the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station in August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre in August 2020 and September 2022.
The investigation identified a combination of contributing factors, including underinvestment, and inadequate monitoring and management of both the treatment process and the sewer network. The discharges were to the North Sea via a long-sea outfall and the actual environmental harm is unknown.
The company has since taken action to improve and control sludge levels at the sewage works, including installing a new settlement tank, increasing monitoring efforts, and enlisting the help of specialist contractors.
Alongside the offer to East Mercia Rivers Trust, the company will also reimburse the Environment Agency’s investigation costs.
Enforcement Undertakings are legally binding agreements between the Environment Agency and those that have breached environmental regulations.
The person offering the EU is required to take steps to prevent a repeat of the offending and to put right the damage caused.
The offences were:
- Operating without or other than in accordance with an environmental permit (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (1).
- Failure to comply with a permit condition (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (2).
The offences relate to the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station, Lincolnshire into Croft Bank Drain on 25 August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre between 25 August 2020 and 26 August 2020, and between 24 September 2022 and 25 September 2022.
