Severn Trent Water fined £2 million for ‘reckless’ pollution

Summary:

Severn Trent Water has been ordered to pay a fine of u00a32,072,000 for releasing approximately 470 million liters of raw sewage into the River Trent from Strongford Wastewater Treatment Works between November 2019 and February 2020. The company pleaded guilty to two charges of illegally discharging raw sewage. The Environment Agency's investigation found that the company failed to have adequate contingency planning in place, resulting in untreated sewage being discharged into the river. The incident was caused by the failure of two screw pumps due to gearbox malfunctions, and despite knowing of the issue, the site manager authorized manual changes to Flow to Full Treatment limits. The judge concluded that the company's actions were reckless, and the fine will be used to fund projects that improve water quality.