Northumbrian Water fined over sewage leak

11:55pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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NORTHUMBRIAN Water has been fined £4,000 for polluting a stream with raw sewage.

The Durham-based company pleaded guilty to the offence at Sunderland Magistrates Court, earlier today and was also ordered to pay full costs of £2,022 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case.

Trevor Cooper, prosecuting, told the court that Northumbrian Water had contacted the Environment Agency on November 2, last year, reporting that raw sewage was discharging from a manhole into the Elemore Vale Burn at Easington Lane, near Houghton-le-Spring.

Agency officers met company representatives on November 3 and found the watercourse grossly polluted with sewage fungus and black sludge.

An expert from the Agency carried out an ecological survey of the watercourse two days later and reported that the leak had had a major negative impact on the ecology and that its effects would be highly detrimental and long-lasting.

Untreated and decaying sewage was seen over one kilometre downstream with invertebrate life killed for at least 500 metres.

It was found a manhole cover had been removed by vandals and the e chamber was full of debris causing the sewer to block.

The court heard this had led to sewage backing up and discharging into the stream.

The sewer had been on regular maintenance checks following a previous raw sewage discharge but had been taken off the watch in 2006 as there had been no further problems.

The area has now been placed back on a monthly checking system.

A spokesman for the agency said: "Although Elemore Vale Burn is only a small watercourse it flows through an area of high amenity value next to a public footpath and also skirts a football ground and residential area."

In mitigation it was said the company had offered an early guilty plea and had reported the incident as well as co-operating fully with the Environment Agency.

It was ruled its culpability was "low'' because of the actions of the vandals.