Yorkshire Water fined over £700,000 for repeated sewage releases

Yorkshire Water fined over £700,000 for repeated sewage releases Company admits three pollution events that killed fish and insects in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield A water company has been fined more than £700,000 for repeatedly releasing sewage into a stream. Yorkshire Water was issued with the penalty after pleading guilty to three offences of sewage pollution in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield. The three events killed fish and insects, and polluted the stream for more than half a mile. The company was fined £733,333, plus costs and victim surcharges. The court was told the first incident happened on 1 October 2018, when a rising main sewer pipe from Pools Brook sewage pumping station burst, causing untreated sewage to spill from a manhole into the stream that runs through the country park. The pipe was severely corroded. Fish including tench, pike and roach in the park’s pond were killed,as were river insects. The impact on water quality stretched for more than 600 metres. The second incident, on 27 February 2019, was caused by a blockage, mainly from wet wipes, in the plastic foul sewer pipe leading to a pressure build up in one of the pipe’s joints. The blockage eventually caused a leak of sewage into the surface water pipe, which entered the stream. There was no evidence of impact on fish, but water quality was affected for 700 metres. The third incident, on 7 August 2019, was caused by a failure of a joint coupling in the same plastic foul sewer pipe as the previous incident, but in a different location, leading to sewage spilling into the surface water pipe and entering the Pools Brook stream. Again there was no evidence of impact on fish, but water quality was affected for more than 600 metres. The Environment Agency said Yorkshire Water would not attend an interview for any of the three incidents. Its chair, Alan Lovell, said: “Polluting the same stream three times in less than a year is unacceptable and we’re pleased Yorkshire Wat...