Investigation underway into Windermere spill report

Water minister Robbie Moore told the Environmental Audit Committee last week that an investigation was underway “as we speak” into an alleged illegal sewage discharge into Lake Windermere.

This followed a BBC investigation which said sewage was illegally pumped into the lake in February following a fault at a United Utilities pumping station caused by a telecoms problem.

The report, which referenced company “insiders,” said emergency pumps discharged millions of litres of untreated sewage into the middle of Windermere for ten hours in February, and the Environment Agency (EA) was not notified for 13 hours after the incident began. While tests showed little impact on the lake and the EA categorised the pollution as “minor,” the BBC said samples were collected more than four hours after the pollution had stopped and were taken from the shore rather than at the discharge point.

The report included that United Utilities said it acted urgently as soon as the fault was discovered, including to make the report to the EA, and that the BBC’s estimate of the scale of the discharge was unreliable. 

Moore said it was a “completely unsatisfactory situation,” that he had spoken to both the EA and United Utilities, and that if wrongdoing is found in the resulting investigation, he would expect the Agency to act.