The Environment Agency has won a case against South West Water, after the water company attempted to prevent 12 charges relating to sewage discharges in Cornwall being taken forward in an impending prosecution.
South West Water had launched an abuse of process case against the agency, but District Judge Matson gave a written judgment on Friday 7 March against the company following a hearing held at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court in January.
The charges relate to alleged offences between 2016 and 2021 at both the Harlyn and Holywell sewage pumping stations for sewage discharges outside of the company’s environmental permits.
The company argued the charges should be dropped claiming that the agency had acted contrary to its own policy of consistency, saying data had been treated differently from other water companies’ data. They also said that the installation and collection of environmental data monitoring (EDM) equipment that the company was required by the agency to use was inconsistent with agency policies.
But the agency successfully argued that it had called for the EDM equipment to be installed at the two sites as they were close to bathing waters which could be affected by sewage spills.
The agency also maintained that South West Water did not fully understand its sewage pumping station assets or the permitting process and relevant policies relating to them.
There was no evidence, said the agency, that EDM coverage did not meet Environment Agency polices and so was not inconsistent.
South West Water will appear in court at a date yet to be fixed to give its plea to the charges and for a full hearing on the case.
Clarissa Newell of the Environment Agency said:
“We are a firm but fair regulator which takes pride in knowing our work protects the environment.
“South West Water’s attempt to cut down the number of charges we intend to prosecute it with only benefits the water company and we would rather see its effort spent on compliance.
“Our duty is to hold those suspected of harming the environment to account and now this hurdle has been overcome we will proceed with our legal action.”
