Water firm admits six years of illegal pollution
GoogleSouth West Water has admitted 18 pollution offences across Devon and Cornwall after years of illegal spills which affected rivers, beaches and protected wildlife habitats.
The water company entered guilty pleas at Plymouth Magistrates Court after an investigation by the Environment Agency into incidents between 2015 and 2021 in Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro and Plymouth.
The agency said 17 of the charges related to illegal discharges, including raw sewage spills. Sentencing is due on 4 June 2026.
South West Water said the charges related to "historic matters between 2015 and 2021" and that it had "invested significantly" since then.
GoogleInvestigators found 336 illegal spills in the seven years to March 2020 at the firm's Bodmin sewage works. Sewage reached the River Camel, a protected conservation area known for Atlantic salmon, otters and bullhead fish.
Untreated sewage was released 231 times between 2016 and 2021 at Harlyn beach in Cornwall, which is popular with families and tourists.
South West Water pleaded guilty to six illegal spills at nearby Holywell sewage pumping station.
Sewage flowed into Hooe Lake in Plymouth for 88 hours over a bank holiday weekend from 28 August to 1 September 2020 after a failure at the pumping station there.
Clarissa Newell, the Environment Agency's environment manager for Devon and Cornwall, said: "Getting to this point and securing these guilty pleas was only possible thanks to years of thorough investigation and hard work by Environment Agency officers."
The Environment Agency continued to do everything in its power to ensure "polluters must pay", she said.
South West Water said the charges related to "historic matters between 2015 and 2021" and it had invested significantly since then, preventing more than 8,300 spills and cutting storm overflow use by 17% in the past year, with spill duration down by 25%.
It said upgrades had been made at the sites involved and it had worked to remove surface water and illegal connections from the network.
A spokesperson apologised "for what happened in the past" and said the firm remained focused on delivering cleaner rivers and seas.
South West Water was fined £2.15m in 2023 for similar pollution offences.
'Broken privatised model'
Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage said while it was "all well and good" EA had prosecuted South West Water, it was not hopeful there would be much change.
Jo Morley, Surfers Against Sewage's head of campaigns and advocacy, said: "In 2023, the same company was prosecuted for 13 charges and fined £2.15m, and here we are again, still swimming and surfing in sewage whilst polluters profit.
"These fines are simply be the cost of doing business for water companies who pour sewage into our waters, making us sick whilst they cash in.
"The government must stop pandering to the polluters - the entire broken, privatised model needs to be torn up and replaced to end this scandal."
