Anglian Water Services fined for water pollution

A leading water company has been fined over £40,000 for causing pollution in Thaxted, Essex.

Sewage works overflowing caused 3km of a river in the area to be polluted with sewage and debris.

The effects on the environment have been overwhelming.

More than 400 fish have been killed. The area looks and smells abhorrent, making hundreds of inhabitants absolutely devastated at the effects.

Sadly, a passer-by had to report the incident to the authorities. It is thought that they spotted the dead fish and were immediately suspicious over the cause of death.

The size, shape and type of fish that has been affected by the water pollution have been hugely varied. Out of the 421 fish that have thus far been found dead, the identified types are amprey, bullhead, minnow, stickleback and stone loach.

This news is particularly painful for fish-lovers and fishers alike, as many of the species that are suffering are already declining in numbers.

Bullheads, of which there were 50 found, are incredibly vulnerable, whereas lamprey are very rare in the East Anglia district that they were found in.

After the report from the passer-by, agency staff went to investigate the river. They found rags and solid pieces of sewage floating about in the water that are thought to have come from an outlet in Park Street, Thaxted.

"An Anglian Water operative cleared the blockage and told Agency staff they had cleared a blockage in the same stretch of sewer a week before," The Environment Agency explains.

It is thought that this disastrous incident could actually have been avoided with better care and planning.

"Anglian Water admitted that before the incident this stretch of sewer was not included on the schedule of planned preventative maintenance," Mrs Claire Corfield, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court.

Environment Agency officer Silvia Moros Perez claims that with better planning and management the fish deaths and water pollution could have easily been avoided.