28 Nov 2018

Defra ‘The Environment Agency published its latest list of Enforcement Undertakings accepted by EA under which 15 companies and individuals that polluted rivers and streams or made other environmental breaches will pay more than £2.2 million to environmental charities and local projects. The new list included the largest Enforcement Undertaking ever accepted by EA, £975,000 from […]

13 Jun 2018

Michael Gove said: “Thames Water completely failed in their duty of care to their customers, leaving them to suffer leaks for far too long through poor management. But actions speak louder than words, and they must deliver on their commitment to provide compensation and much-needed improvements to customers. “This is exactly the kind of decisive […]

25 Apr 2018

EA Chair Emma Howard Boyd calls for courts to make fines for water pollution proportionate to companies’ turnover. The Chair of the Environment Agency has called for courts to make fines for water pollution incidents proportionate to the companies’ turnover, saying that the water companies are responsible for “at least one serious pollution incident every week.”  […]

21 Mar 2018

A few years ago the sentencing rules changed and water companies in particular have been paying out much larger sums in fines – often in excess of a millions pound. In another twist of the legal system there have been a wave of payments made to charities through a mechanism know as civil sanctions. Anglian Water has […]

17 Aug 2017

South West Water to pay £142,524 for Devon and Cornwall breaches Environment Agency: Illegal discharges at sewage treatment works in Denbury and Praze an Beeble broke permit conditions.   South West Water Ltd has been ordered to pay more than £142,000 in fines and costs for discharging poor quality effluent from two of its sewage treatment plants. […]

12 Jul 2017

Shades of Orwellian double-speak and an interesting contradiction. How can ‘good progress’ be equated with the first rise in incidents since 2012  – to 1902 incidents – (an increase of 160 pollution incidents) from the nine major water companies? The EA’s report found the majority of the UK’s water companies achieved close to or exceeded […]

02 Jul 2017

The scale of fines is creeping up, but wasn’t the idea that giant brands like Tesco were supposed to be market leaders in delivering corporate social responsibility (CSR). You could do a lot of staff training for £8 million.  Retail Gazette: Tesco has been slapped with two fines totalling in £8 million after it pleaded […]

28 Jun 2017

  The election and Grenfell have changed the mood. First it was Corbyn’s plan to renationalise water, then his relative success at the election, then another monster fine for Thames for failed leakage targets, the scandal of Australian investment bank Macquarie’s exploitation, and then Grenfell where profit lead deregulation was and will be fully exposed […]