Overview

• Sheffield Magistrates’ Court imposed an £865,000 fine plus about £35,000 in costs and a £170 victim surcharge after Yorkshire Water pleaded guilty to polluting Ingbirchworth Dike.
• The penalty follows an Environment Agency investigation into nearly a month of illegal chlorinated water releases in November 2017 that resulted in at least 434 fish deaths along a 1.5 km stretch.
• Investigators found the discharges stemmed from operational failures at the treatment works, including a malfunctioning valve and improperly set capacity alarms on an underground wash tank.
• Yorkshire Water issued a formal apology for the harm and committed to investing £8.3 billion over five years in improved monitoring, equipment upgrades and infrastructure resilience.
• An Independent Water Commission review that highlighted systemic compliance failures in the UK water sector has intensified calls for stronger regulation of water companies.