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Scottish Water Fined £10,000 for water pollution
6 Nov 2002 - 169/02
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Scottish Water pled guilty at Hamilton Sheriff Court on 6 November 2002 to causing pollution of the Kittoch Water and its parent river, the White Cart Water, over the period 21 May to 13 June 2001 by allowing effluent from Philipshill Sewage Treatment Works to enter the watercourses. They were fined £10,000. The charge was brought under the Control of Pollution Act 1974, as amended, and the case was the result of a report sent to the Procurator Fiscal by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
The polluted state of the watercourses during this time prompted many complaints to SEPA from the public, East Renfrewshire Council, Ken McIntosh MSP and the Busby Angling Club. SEPA Environment Protection Officers and Scientists responded to all complaints received and gathered evidence in respect of this extended pollution event. During the incidents, the White Cart Water was polluted and discoloured for several kilometres downstream of the sewage effluent discharge point. Sewage fungus grew on the bed of the rivers and they were foamy, unpleasant smelling and unsuitable for fishing activities. East Renfrewshire Council erected a number of warning signs on the worst affected parts of the polluted rivers advising people to keep away from the rivers during that period.
Chris Willmott, SEPA Team Leader for the South Lanarkshire area, said of the case: “SEPA is pleased with the outcome of this trial. It demonstrates that the Courts take a serious view of such pollution offences and it should not leave Scottish Water in any doubt about the need to ensure that their treatment works do not fall below the required standards. In this regard, Scottish Water has undertaken to ensure the best possible performance of Philipshill STW, pending major improvements to this facility.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Philipshill STW capacity had been overloaded and affected by structural inadequacies for several years and was in need of replacement or extending and upgrading. SEPA was dissatisfied with the lack of progress towards resolving this situation, especially as it was evident that the works was predisposed to fail the performance standards set by SEPA , which the water authority was bound by law to comply with.
The replacement or upgrading of Philipshill STW is a major engineering project and will take several years to complete. Scottish Water is under an obligation to ensure that the existing works performs to the best of its capability until the new scheme is operational. At the time of the offence, the former West of Scotland Water Authority owned and ran Philipshill STW but this responsibility passed to Scottish Water, as West of Scotland Water Authority’s statutory successor, in April 2002.
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