Saturday 7 November 2015

South West Water fined £214k for pollution

A UK water company has been ordered to pay a £214,000 fine for breaching environmental controls.

According to the Environment Agency (EA), South West Water did not operate and maintain the works on its plant in accordance with good practice and minimise the risk of pollution.

The company failed to stop sewage pouring into River Tamar, the EA stated.

The treatment plant at Camels Head serves a population of more than 40,000.

It added the firm admitted breaking the permit conditions.

Mike Ingman from the EA said: "Compliance at South West Water sewage works is generally good. But in this case South West Water failed to operate the site in a way that minimised the risk to the environment. As a result, the site breached its permit on a number of occasions and risked serious pollution of the River Tamar.

"It is encouraging that South West Water has now set about extensive improvements on the site which are due to be completed next summer. These will help secure compliance for the future."