The fine relates to illegal spillages
Southern Water, which supplies fresh water and collects sewage from many homes and businesses in West Kent, has been fined £90m.
The company admitted to 6,961 illegal spillages across 17 mostly coastal sites in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, between January 2010 and December 2015. Seven of the sites were on the north Kent coast.
In a statement Southern Water's Chief Executive, Ian McAulay said:
"I am deeply sorry for the historic incidents which have led to today’s sentencing and fine. I know that the people who rely on us to be custodians of the precious environment in southern England must be able to trust us. What happened historically was completely unacceptable and Southern Water pleaded guilty to the charges in recognition of that fact.
"We have heard what the judge has said today and will reflect closely on the sentence and his remarks. He has rightly put the environment front and centre which is what matters to all of us.
"These events happened between 2010 and 2015. I joined Southern Water in 2017 and am passionately committed to the environment. We have changed the way we operate. My expectation is that Southern Water is fully transparent and operates in the right way. We continue to transform across the areas of risk and compliance, measurement and self-reporting. We have made much progress and are continuing to invest to protect the environment and deliver our services safely and at a fair price for our customers.
"Today’s fine will not impact customers’ bills and investment in our transformation will not be reduced. Our shareholders are bearing the cost of the fine."
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