Image description: An aerial view of Blackpool north pier. Photo by Mark mc neill on Unsplash

United Utilities (UU) Water Ltd has been fined £964,225 for a sewage leak which led the Environment Agency (EA) to issue swimming bans along a stretch of Lancashire’s coastline.

The water company pleaded guilty to five offences related to incidents between 11 and 22 June 2023, when raw sewage was reportedly discharged into the Irish Sea from three coastal pumping stations for more than 35 hours in total over several days.

As per coverage of the case, Preston Magistrates’ Court heard a pipe collapse at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works was identified as the cause. The court was informed that the pipe, which had only been installed 28 years ago, had been buried much too deeply – about 5m below ground level rather than 2.4m.

Affects on residents and businesses

The EA said it was an “unacceptable pollution incident which had far-reaching consequences for residents and businesses”, with sewage was reported on beaches and in marine recreational facilities including Fleetwood baths.

According to reports, the EA had to issue “no bathing” advice across all eight designated bathing waters along the affected coastline, while sampling carried out during the incident by a trained citizen scientist was also indicative of the presence of E. coli.

The EA also said three shellfish beds were also temporarily closed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) due to public health concerns.

Communities and businesses along the coast were impacted significantly by the contamination, said the EA, with popular tourist destinations including Blackpool and St Annes among those badly affected. In Blackpool alone, the EA said summer visitor numbers fell by hundreds of thousands compared with the previous year.

Andy Brown, the Environment Agency’s water regulation manager, told BBC North West Tonight the large fine “sent out an important message”.

United Utilities accepted fault and committed to installing new pipeline

The court heard the water company accepted fault straight away and apologised unreservedly, taking steps to fix the problems as quickly as possible.

Four hundred staff worked around the clock to repair the damage at a cost of £38m.

According to the BBC, United Utilities said it had started to install a state-of-the-art new system in January and had donated to community projects.

Chris Borradaile, from United Utilties, told BBC North West Tonight: “We have committed to the full extent of the pipeline – 1.5km – and that is costing around £66m.”

“Typically that would have taken three years to carry out that sort of construction but we are doing that in 12 months.”