The BBC has today published a detailed article about the Environment Agency’s regulation of sewage discharges into Lake Windermere by water company United Utilities. It all relates to a series of discharges from the Glebe Road pumping station between 2021 and 2023.
Our full statement on the story gives more details about how the Environment Agency is responding:
As soon as this incident was brought to our attention, we launched a thorough investigation. This investigation is complex and ongoing – and we are examining further evidence received from United Utilities.
If any water company is found to be in breach of an environmental permit, the Environment Agency will take the appropriate enforcement action up to and including a criminal prosecution.
We are absolutely committed to improving the water quality in Lake Windermere, which is why we are working closely with the local community and a range of partners to reduce pollution from different sources. Progress is being made, with recent improvements to sewage treatment works leading to a fall in phosphorus input by approximately 30% since 2020.
The Environment Agency is transforming our approach to water industry regulation, including recruiting 500 additional specialised officers and quadrupling the number of water company inspections by the end of March 2025 to 4,000 - increasing to 10,000 inspections the following year.
There are several points in the article which we believe require further context and, in some instances, are misleading:
- The article states that there were 140 million litres of discharges in Lake Windermere. This is based on assumptions about pump capacity that the Environment Agency does not recognise, and therefore we cannot validate these data points. An investigation is ongoing to into discharges at the Glebe Road pumping station.
- The article says the discharges were illegal based on the journalists’ analysis. Whilst the Environment Agency is aware of multiple breaches of United Utilities permit, a full investigation into the breach must be carried out by the Environment Agency. The legality of a permit breach is a matter for the courts to decide.
- The article also implies that the Environment Agency delayed obtaining operational data needed for its investigation until it was told about the BBC’s analysis. This is incorrect. The Environment Agency always intended to request and analyse the operational data as part of its investigation. This was done after the Environment Agency had analysed the 2021/2022 flow data for the pumping station in question, so a meaningful comparison could be made. This is standard practice for a thorough and highly technical investigation. The EA is now in possession of the 2023 flow data and is analysing its content as part of the ongoing investigation.
After an initial assessment, the Environment Agency immediately issued a Compliance Assessment Report to United Utilities, which stated that the regulator considers the spills events in question in breach of United Utilities permit. The legality of the incident is yet to be determined as part of an ongoing investigation.
If it is determined that a permit breach has taken place, the Environment Agency will take the appropriate enforcement action in accordance with its enforcement and sanctions policy up to and including criminal prosecution.
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