09 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Darren Tolley Severn Trent Water has been found in breach of its wastewater obligations, though Ofwat has decided against a financial penalty. The regulator concluded the company failed in its duties to provide drainage and manage the contents of its sewers, and had historically breached licence requirements to maintain adequate processes and systems. […]
09 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Ted Balmer Water companies that break environmental rules now face faster financial penalties of up to £500,000, under changes that strengthen the Environment Agency’s enforcement powers. The reforms let the regulator use the lower civil standard of proof for minor and moderate offending, rather than the criminal standard that previously made many […]
12 Mar 2026
Photo description: Aerial view of water treatment plant. Photo by Patrick Federi on Unsplash. Welsh Water is set to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in the supplier’s sewage and network services. The case is the seventh in a series of Ofwat investigations into all water and […]
12 Mar 2026
Image description: A river with boats moored. Photo by Victoria Feliniak on Unsplash The Environment Agency (EA) has awarded £430,000 payout to the West Country Rivers Trust, following six clay pollution incidents in Cornwall by Imerys Minerals Limited. The EA confirmed the payment after its investigation found multiple failures at Imerys operations, including damaged […]
03 Feb 2026
Photo by Fotogra The Marine Management Organisation has secured its second successful prosecution for breaches of Marine Protected Area byelaws, following a guilty plea at North Tyneside Magistrates Court relating to illegal fishing activity inside the Canyons Marine Conservation Zone. On 29 January 2026, Marcos Gonzales-Rivera, a Spanish national and master of the British-registered […]
17 Jul 2024
All 11 water and wastewater companies in England and Wales are now under scrutiny over sewage spills, after the regulator said it was expanding its investigation. This week, Ofwat opened enforcement cases into four more firms – Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Severn Trent and United Utilities – as part of its probe into […]
10 Feb 2022
Environment Agency ‘Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency: 10 September to December 31 2021′ Environment Agency ‘Our approach to enforcement undertakings (EUs) An EU is a voluntary offer made by an offender to: put right the effects of their offending put right the impact on third parties make sure the offence cannot happen again […]
24 Jun 2021
This mechanism has been around for a number of years, and the Environment Agency report on the use of this annually. The example below of Anglian Water shows how this works. EA ‘Environment Agency approach to enforcement undertakings (EUs) An EU is a voluntary offer made by an offender to: put right the effects of their offending […]
