Southern Water has been ordered to pay more than £7 million in fines after admitting to illegal sewage discharges off the Kent coast. The company appeared at Canterbury Crown Court and pleaded guilty to 13 offenses linked to wastewater pumping stations in Broadstairs and Margate.
Illegal Discharges and Reporting Failures
The illegal dumping occurred between 2019 and 2021. Nine of the charges relate to incidents of untreated sewage being released into the sea, with prosecutors noting that some of the discharge was "unscreened," meaning solid waste had not been filtered out. Three other counts involved Southern Water's failure to notify authorities of these discharges promptly, as required by law within 24 hours.
Additionally, the company was found to have failed in its permit requirements by not having a standby pump at Margate's station between July 27, 2019, and October 4, 2020. The court heard that the company caused harm through a "pattern of repeated incidents over several years."
Previous Fines and Legal History
This is not the first time Southern Water has faced significant penalties for environmental violations. In 2021, the company was fined £90 million after admitting to 6,971 illegal spills across 17 sites in Hampshire, Kent, and West Sussex. The judge in that case stated that the offenses had been "committed deliberately" by Southern's board of directors at the time.