Anglian Water fined £560,000 after sewage dumped into Essex river
Millions of litres of sewage was accidentally released into water near Brentwood
Anglian Water has been handed a fine of over £560,000 after a fault at a water treatment plant led to sewage being dumped into an Essex river.
Wildlife was killed along a three kilometre stretch of Doddinghurst Brook after a failure at the Doddinghurst Water Recycling Centre, near Brentwood, was left unchecked for two and a half days.
3.9 million litres of sewage ended up in the weater, causing serious damage to the river's ecosystem and killing a number of protected species.
Anglian Water was ordered to pay a £563,609.21 at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court.
The recycling centre, eight miles south of Chelmsford, is responsible for treating sewage from around 6,600 local people.
It discharges treated sewage into the upper Wid, also known as Doddinghurst Brook.
Environment Agency Chief Executive Sir James Bevan said:
“We welcome this sentence. Serious pollution is a serious crime."
"The Environment Agency will pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature, and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties for those which do not.”