'Leak ruined our fishing'

Extract from Cumberland Evening News on 16/02/2008

RAW sewage poured into a Cumbrian river for a whole day after a pipe carrying it to a treatment plant burst. The banks of the River Eamont, near Penrith, were littered with condoms, sanitary towels and other waste. Anglers stopped fishing for a fortnight at the height of the trout season because of the state of the banks and the stench. But members of two affected clubs will have to wait a little longer to find out whether they will receive compensation from United Utilities Water plc. A Deputy District Judge reserved judgement in the case after hearing evidence at Penrith County Court yesterday.

Retired civil servant Bob Bradney, of Hunsonby, near Penrith, is a member of the Yorkshire Fly-now Fishers Club. It has joined forces with the Penrith Angling Association to seek £1,500 in compensation from the water company for the pollution which happened at Frenchfield, near Penrith, on April 5, 2006. He said, in a statement to the court, that he did not fish the Eamont for two weeks after that, for health reasons apart from anything else. He said: raw sewage littered the banks downstream of the pipe bridge, including condoms, sanitary towels and plastic detritus.

It was not until after the next spate some three weeks later that most of the rubbish was removed from the banks. The river banks stank of sewage. Ryan Johnston, waste water field manager with United Utilities at the time, said the sewage leaked after a pipe that normally carried waste under the river became blocked with silt. He said there was a minimum impact on the water quality and the eco-system and no fish were killed. A clean-up operation, which cost £100,000, swung into action straight away. He said the Environment Agency had classed it as a category three incident and there had been no prosecution. The affected pipe, which was supposed to be self-cleaning, had never been blocked before.

Nicholas Baldock, barrister for the claimants, argued that United Utilities only appeared to operate reactively to the incident. There was no documented evidence of checks being carried out on the pipe in advance which might have prevented the incident. There had been no indication given in court as to the cost of cleaning out the pipes regularly compared to the cost of clean-up.

David Hoffman, representing United Utilities, said that although the spillage had been very unpleasant, the company was not liable in law for the consequences that flowed from it. He said that the build up of silt in the pipe which fractured could not have been foreseen. After the hearing Mr Bradney, who fishes up to 50 times a season on the Eamont and the Eden, said he believed United Utilities were holding back any compensation payment on a point of principle.