Southern Water has been fined more than £7 million after illegally discharging untreated sewage into coastal waters off Kent, causing significant environmental damage and harming local tourism.
The water company was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting 13 environmental offences linked to sewage releases from its wastewater pumping stations in Margate and Broadstairs between 2019 and 2021.
Southern Water pleaded guilty at Medway Magistrates’ Court in April last year to nine offences relating to untreated sewage discharges into the sea. It also admitted three offences for failing to notify authorities about the incidents within the required timeframe, breaching the conditions of its environmental permit.
During the two-day sentencing hearing, the court heard that some of the sewage released into coastal waters was “unscreened”, meaning it still contained solid waste.
One incident on 16 February 2021 saw untreated sewage discharged from the Broadstairs wastewater pumping station into the sea for five consecutive hours following a technical fault. Authorities were only informed after the discharge had ended.
The company was also convicted of failing to maintain a standby pump at the Margate pumping station between 27 July 2019 and 4 October 2020, in breach of its environmental permit.
In June 2021, beaches across Thanet were closed for a week after the local council declared the sewage release a “high profile pollution incident.”
Mr Justice Johnson imposed a total fine of £7,127,083 during the sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court.
The latest penalty follows a separate £90 million fine imposed on Southern Water over nearly 7,000 pollution incidents across Hampshire, Kent and Sussex in a case brought by the Environment Agency.
Thanet District Council’s Director of Environment, Michael Humber, said the sewage discharges had been “particularly negatively impactful” on both the environment and the local economy, where tourism accounts for around 20% of employment.
Representing Southern Water, Dominic Kay said the company had undergone significant changes since 2022, adding that new leadership had rebuilt the business around greater accountability.