South West Water has appeared in court today (Tuesday, April 16) accused of a series of offences relating to illegal water discharges and breaches of environmental permits.
The alleged offences took place across Cornwall and in Plymouth between 2015 and 2021.
The charges relate to waste water treatment works, sewage pumping stations and the sewer network.
The Environment Agency alleges that SWW is responsible for many hundreds of illegal discharges at seven sites across Cornwall and one in Plymouth over a six- year period.
More than 200,000 pages of evidence were submitted to the court by the Environment Agency relating to offences over that six-year period. Event Duration Monitoring Data (‘EDM’) was used by the Environment Agency to allege that South West Water has spilled illegally from multiple sites.
Proceedings have been adjourned to 3 July, 2024 for pleas to be entered.
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