United Utilities fined £900,000 after Fylde Coast sewage discharge

United Utilities Water has been hit with a record fine of £900,000 after sewage was discharged into Lancashire holiday hotspots for 35 hours.

The raw sewage was discharged into the sea along the Fylde coastline, affecting popular tourist locations across Blackpool, Lytham and Fleetwood.  

‘No bathing’ advice was issued across all eight designated bathing waters, with testing during the incident indicative of E. coli. 

The fine imposed by Preston magistrates followed a serious environmental incident between 11 and 22 June 2023, when raw sewage was discharged into the Irish Sea from three coastal pumping stations over several days. 

Sewage was reported on beaches and in marine recreational facilities, including Fleetwood baths, while United Utilities’ own modelling showed a sewage plume had touched seven bathing waters and significantly impacted bathing water quality in the hours following the spills. 

Three shellfish beds were also temporarily closed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) due to concerns for public health. 

The water company had pleaded guilty to five environmental permit offences and accepted the Environment Agency’s Category 1 incident classification.

In a statement, the Environment Agency said: “Communities and businesses along the coast were impacted significantly by the contamination with popular tourist destinations including Blackpool and St Annes among those badly affected.

“In Blackpool alone, summer visitor numbers fell by hundreds of thousands compared with the previous year.”  

An investigation by the agency found that the incident began following the partial collapse of a final effluent pipe at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works, which reduced the amount of sewage the site could receive and caused it back up through the wider system. 

Following periods of rainfall, sewage was subsequently discharged from three coastal pumping stations at Manchester Square, Anchorsholme and Chatsworth Avenue. 

The company admitted the breaches when interviewed under caution and pleaded guilty to five offences during a court hearing in April. 

Speaking after yesterday’s sentencing, Andy Brown, Environment Agency’s water regulation manager, said: “This was an unacceptable pollution incident which had far-reaching consequences for residents and businesses along the Fylde Coast.  

“Our investigation found that United Utilities Water Limited discharged sewage outside the conditions of its environmental permits. The company admitted those breaches, and the record fine reflects the seriousness of the offences and the harm caused.  

“Water companies have a fundamental responsibility to properly manage their assets and comply with the environmental permits designed to protect our rivers, seas and communities. When they fail to do so, we will hold them to account. 

“We will continue to rigorously regulate the water industry, investigate breaches and take action against companies that fail to meet their environmental obligations.” 

The company also made a voluntary payment of £250,000 to Blackpool Council after images of the town’s iconic tower were used alongside media reports of the incident.

In a statement, United Utilities said it had committed more than £100m in response to the incident.

The company said the investment reflected its commitment to “putting things right and delivering lasting benefits for the local communities that were impacted”.

It added that it was funding a number of local projects, including £1.5m towards a new public paddling pool and splash park in Fleetwood.

The company also revealed that it spent more than £38m in the initial incident response - including a £250,000 donation to Blackpool Council to provide immediate support to the tourism industry. 

A further £66m is being invested replacing the treated wastewater pipe with a new permanent solution to increase ‘long-term infrastructure resilience’ in the area. That project is expected to be completed by November.  

Chris Borradaile, United Utilities director for wastewater services, said: “We want to reiterate our sincere and unreserved apologies for this incident and the harm and disruption it caused.

“We accept responsibility for what happened and recognise that we fell short of the standards our customers and communities rightly expect.

“Since then, our focus has been on putting things right. We have committed more than £100m to our response, including a permanent engineering solution to increase the resilience of our infrastructure, which is on track to be delivered three years earlier than would normally be expected for a project of this scale.

“Following consultation with local representatives, we are also investing in a range of community projects that will deliver lasting benefits for the people of Fleetwood and the Fylde coast.”