Southern Water illegally dumped sewage after record £90m fine

Southern Water has admitted further sewage pollution discharges in Kent, some of which took place weeks after it was handed a record £90m penalty for illegal dumping. The water company had been fined in July 2021 over 6,971 unpermitted discharges across the county, along with Sussex and Hampshire, which were committed between 2010 and 2015. But at Medway Magistrates' Court earlier in April, it pleaded guilty to five offences of sewage discharge between 2019 and 2021, the Environment Agency (EA) said. Southern Water said it pleaded guilty to the charges relating to 2019-21 and it was "cooperating fully with the legal process in the magistrates' court". "As this is an ongoing court matter, it would be inappropriate to comment further," a spokesperson added. The water firm said that pollution incidents were "never acceptable" and it had been "working hard" to improve, reducing pollution incidents by 38% across the past five years. The EA said that the firm should have "managed operations more carefully" and had the "necessary checks in place". Southern Water plants in Whitstable discharged pollution into the sea directly or via the Swalecliffe Brook waterway in August 2021, weeks afte