press release
    25th June 2004

Campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) have today expressed huge disappointment following Truro Crown Court’s decision to reduce a fine for a pollution incident by South West Water from £15,000 to £3000.

The original fine had been given at Camborne Court in January this year and was hailed by environmentalists as a huge step forward in putting a true cost on environmental pollution, following years of tiny fines which big business saw as little more than loose change.

SAS understand that the court’s decision to reduce the fine was based on the level of environmental damage caused and the action taken by the water company following the discharge of poorly treated sewage effluent from the North Cliffs Outfall was discovered.

SAS were present outside Truro Crown Court this morning to greet South West Water officials. We urged them to take the original fine on the chin using any costs incurred through appeal to instead be used on improving discharges relating to the Camborne/Redruth Treatment Wastewater Treatment works that led to this original prosecution.

SAS has called on the Environment Agency who brought the prosecution to consider a challenge to the decision, but will also be contacting the Government to bring forward a proposed parliamentary agreement that would develop specific ‘environmental courts’. These would place a significantly higher value on environmental damage and reflect pollution incidents such as these more appropriately with heavier fines.

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