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Anglian Water fined GBP75,000 after Letchworth fish kill

Anglian Water Services has been fined GBP75,000 and ordered to pay full costs of GBP10,459 for allowing sewage effluent from its Letchworth Sewage Treatment Works to pollute the Pix Brook killing at least 2,679 fish.

We categorised this pollution as the most serious as it affected at least 4km of the Pix Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ivel at Letchworth in Hertfordshire.

Sanitary items were seen caught up on rocks and in the vegetation and there was a light brown sludge covering algae and other surfaces along the brook, Luton Crown Court heard.

Although Anglian Water had a discharge consent for the treatment works, the discharge on 8/9 May 2008 did not come under those conditions. It had happened when storm tanks overflowed after sewage was diverted to them temporarily while a fault was being corrected on equipment which breaks down sewage, reducing ammonia levels.

It is estimated that the works discharged up to 990 tonnes into the Pix Brook.

After the hearing senior environment officer Jeremy Hay  said: ‘The discharge of crude sewage from Letchworth sewage treatment works last May was entirely avoidable which makes the loss of so many fish even more disappointing.

‘Anglian Water has learnt from its mistakes and has made a number of significant improvements to the works.  I would like to thank the members of the public who called our 24 hour incident line, 0800 807060, to notify us of the problem.  Luckily because of the short duration of the discharges, the insect life in the Pix Brook was not affected and fish have successfully re-colonised.