Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | july 2014 | 5 Polluters pay UU fined £400k for biogas leak The Environment Agency has fined United Utilities £400,000 for a pollution incident at its Stockport treatment works. A gas holder at the site, part of the sludge treatment system, tilted sideways, allowing 50,000cu m of biogas to escape over a three-week period in October 2011. The Environment Agency estimated that the potential contribu- tion was equivalent to 456 tonnes of carbon dioxide. United Utilities admitted two breaches of environmental permit conditions and was fined £200,000 for each offence at Manchester Crown Court in May this year. Civil sanction 'first' for Wessex Water In the first case where a civil sanction has been used for a pollution offence committed by a water company, The Environment Agency has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking from Wes- sex Water Services. The offer includes actions for Wessex Water to improve its operations and infrastructure, as well as financial contributions totalling £25,500 to environmental organisations and those affected by the offence. It relates to a major pollution incident in Bristol on July 11, 2013, when a blockage resulted in raw sewage being discharged into the River Trym. South West Water fined £150k South West Water (SWW) has been ordered to pay £153,600 by Truro Crown Court a er poorly-treated effluent discharged into the Par River from the company's treatment works at Luxulyan near St Austell in Cornwall in July 2013. Scottish Water fined for Purgatory Burn pollution Scottish Water has been fined £12,000 by Glasgow Sheriff Court a er pleading guilty to a series of uncontrolled sew- age discharges into the Purgatory Burn near Kirkintilloch between March 6 and June 25, 2013. Defra announces further delay in SuDS legislation Ofwat: 'Ruthless prioritisation' in face of job losses Ofwat has told wwtonline it will embark on a 'ruthless' prioritisation of its work as it seeks to shed up to 46 jobs in a bid to deliver a 30% reduc- tion in its 2015-16 budget. The regulator has now embarked on an internal consultation over its plans to restructure in order to meet Schedule 3 of the Sustain- able Drainage Systems (SuDS) legislation will not be implemented in October as previously stated by De- fra, the department has an- nounced. This is the second time the legislation has been delayed this year. An initial delay was announced by water minister Dan Rogerson on January 6, when he said: "Regrettably, it is looking increasingly unlikely we will be in a position to ensure the scheme comes into force this April, which was our pre- ferred date for implementa- tion as stated previously. "Defra is instead providing local authorities with the extra time they need to pre- pare for these new regula- tions to ensure local govern- ment is sufficiently prepared to undertake their statutory duties successfully from the outset." However, no official an- nouncement has been made about this second delay. Rather, key stakeholders in- volved in the consultation have been informed by letter that implementation will not happen before October and that an announcement will be made over the summer. It says: "The government remains committed to imple- menting SuDS at the earliest VOX POP "This is a first for the UK, and we've already had a lot of interest from investors who want to be involved in this world-leading project." Mike Gerrard, Thames Tideway Tunnel MD on opening an investment competition to fund the project "It's only fair that when companies make mistakes, they put it right and make sure customers are not out of pocket." Cathryn Ross, Ofwat chief executive, on the news that Thames Water will pay a package of £86M for mis-reporting sewer flood risk "I am privileged to be given the opportunity to help shape [the] future from within the institute and I'm enthusiastically looking forward to meeting the challenges that brings." Heidi Mottram, Northumbrian Water Group chief executive on taking up the Institute of Water presidency the budget cuts. The planned job losses represent a quarter of Ofwat's workforce. The spokesperson said the reduction in staff and budget "will mean a ruth- less prioritisation of how we deliver work to get the best deal for customers. Tougher decisions will be made". However, he added: "This is a consultation, and nothing is set in stone at this time." Visit wwtonline.co.uk for more on this story as it happens available opportunity, but not in a way that affects de- velopment. While several de- partments are working hard on this, it has become clear we will not be in a position to implement Schedule 3 from October, as we had hoped. "A statement will be made in the summer that will set out in greater detail our plans for implementation. Howev- er, we would still expect the secondary legislation setting out the implementation date would be laid in Parliament approximately six months before that date." Commenting on the news, Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) deputy public affairs director Sam Ibbott said: "This is very dis- appointing. Not only has the implementation of SuDS been further delayed, but there is no indication of an updated timetable – leaving the indus- try in limbo, and potentially jeopardising investment. "The announcement talks of implementing SuDS in a way that 'does not affect development'. It is not clear what this means, but we are wary of any move to dilute the regulations. If you think SuDS affects development, you should try flooding." For more reactions to this story search 'SuDS legisla- tion' at wwtonline.co.uk

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