The Environment Agency has confirmed today (July 22) that it has commenced criminal proceedings against Southern Water and four of the company’s former employees – Matthew Wright, Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory.
The Administrative Court has handed down a significant judgment confirming the Environment Agency’s powers to prosecute the four.
The former employees, including the former Chief Executive Officer Matthew Wright, face a charge of conspiracy to defraud.
It is alleged that between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017 the individuals conspired to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat by the implementation of artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works operated by Southern Water to manipulate the Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM) compliance testing regime.
Conspiracy to defraud is a common law offence carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. The case will now proceed before the Medway Magistrates Court.
Self monitoring was introduced for the water industry in 2009 and requires water companies to take samples at their wastewater treatment works and report the results to the Environment Agency.
Strict rules govern how samples must be taken to ensure their independence and accuracy. It is an offence if there is evidence that flows or data are deliberately manipulated to avoid compliance checks.
Southern Water will separately face charges of breaching environmental permits linked to the same conduct. Three further individuals will also face charges linked to failure to comply with environmental permits.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are taking criminal proceedings against Southern Water Services Limited and a number of former employees.
“We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute those alleged to have committed serious offending against the environment. We welcome this important judgment.”
‘Historic failures’
A Southern Water spokesman said: “We’re aware of today’s judgement permitting prosecution by the Environment Agency of former employees. The individuals named are no longer with the company. The charges relate to a historic set of failures between 2012 and 2017.
“These were uncovered through an internal company investigation in 2017. As soon as they were identified, Southern Water reported them to regulators, including the Environment Agency.
“As previously announced, the company is separately facing charges of breaching environmental permits. This follows an earlier Ofwat investigation into the same issue, which resulted in a customer rebate and penalties being imposed in 2019. We apologised in full at that time and repeat that apology again today.
“Southern Water is a completely different company now than it was a decade ago. Under new leadership and backed by new shareholders, we’ve radically addressed our culture, governance and operations. We’re serious about further change and improvement, and are investing in our largest ever programme to protect the environment.”
