Campaigners fighting to stop sewage discharges into Windermere, the Lake District’s largest lake, have made a statutory nuisance complaint against a water company in the first legal action of its kind.
The civil complaints are normally used in noise disputes, or over noxious smells. But the environmental barrister Nicholas Ostrowski has for the first time lodged a complaint on behalf of campaign group Save Windermere against United Utilities over raw sewage discharges into the lake.
The complaint, which has been made to the local authority, Westmorland and Furness council, based in Kendal, Cumbria, demands that it investigate the alleged nuisance from sewage discharges by the water company.
If the council finds there has been a nuisance, an abatement notice will be served requiring sewage discharges from Ambleside wastewater treatment works and other locations around Ambleside to be limited or halted altogether. Breaches of an abatement notice can result in criminal prosecution.
Matt Staniek of Save Windermere said: “This is an unprecedented approach. In the absence of a fit for purpose regulator, Save Windermere has had to step in to hold United Utilities accountable for the damage they are inflicting upon England’s largest lake. Continuously, the water company is prioritising dividend return over environmental protection.”
Staniek is calling for a 10-point plan to be introduced for a sewage-free Windermere.
With its complaint the campaign group has submitted evidence to the council documenting what it says are 113 incidents of raw sewage being discharged into and around the River Rothay in Ambleside over a 13-month period.
Last month, millions of litres of raw sewage were illegally pumped into Windermere after a fault that the water company did not report until 13 hours after it started.
Save Windermere alleges sewage discharging in Ambleside constitutes a nuisance in two of the categories laid out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
A United Utilities spokesperson said that over the past two decades the company had invested £75m upgrading wastewater treatment sites, pumping stations and sewers around Windermere, with £45m of that work completed in 2020.
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“Total phosphorus in Windermere has reduced by 30% as a direct result of that investment,” they said. “We have already started work on a further £41m of investment into the Windermere catchment between now and 2030 to reduce storm overflow operation at Elterwater, Hawkshead, Ambleside and Near Sawrey. This will reduce spills by 50% on 2022 figures and is expected to reduce total phosphorus by a further 4% and 8% in the two basins of Windermere.
“And we are continuing to work with all organisations that impact water quality in the lake, including farmers, septic tank owners, hotels, campsites, highways authorities and landowners to deliver the step change that we all want to see.”
A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness council said: “We have received an allegation of statutory nuisance regarding discharges into Windermere and are considering our response.”