A UTILITIES firm which was slapped with a six-figure fine for unauthorised sewage discharges has apologised again - after another main burst.
Yorkshire Water sent a fleet of tankers to prevent pollution seeping into the River Dearne on Sunday, after the monitoring system on Lowfield Road’s pumping station near Bolton-upon-Dearne showed a nearby main had burst.
Tankers were sent to remove wastewater, with the work stopping sewage entering the waterway.
The pumping station is close to wetland areas such as Adwick Washland Nature Reserve, and a series of dykes around the River Dearne including Crane Well Dike.
Yorkshire Water said the Environment Agency was aware.
A spokesperson said: “On Sunday the monitoring on our pumping station at Lowfield alerted us to a burst on a nearby rising main.
“We immediately dispatched tankers to site so they could take away the wastewater and prevent any sewage going into the waterway.
“We would like to thank the local community for their patience as we complete this work and apologise for any inconvenience it may have caused.”
Yorkshire Water received a £650,000 fine just weeks ago for two previous incidents in Barnsley - one of which resulted in hundreds of fish dying.
The spokesperson added: “Unfortunately, there are instances where things go wrong and we take responsibility to make it right.
“We always co-operate fully with investigations and sometimes these can lead to us giving enforcement undertakings to the Environment Agency.
“As part of these undertakings, compensation is provided to local charities so improvements can be made to benefit our local environment.
“We have seen compensation from past undertakings deliver real improvements for local initiatives.”
Barnsley North MP Dan Jarvis said the government’s serious about cleaning up rivers.
He added: “Over the years I’ve been contacted by hundreds of constituents angry about the fact that so many waterways in our borough and country were regularly filled with toxic sewage.
“In fact, when Labour took office, we inherited record levels of illegal sewage in our rivers, lakes and seas.
“Our Water Act has banned bonuses for senior bosses at six failing water companies: Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities and Southern Water.
“This is because they failed to meet the water regulator Ofwat’s standards.
“As well as reforming the system, we’re getting to work cleaning up our waters.
“To further protect customers and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, we’ve secured a record £104bn of private investment to cut sewage discharges by nearly half over the next five years.
“We’ve ring-fenced this money for new pipes and treatment work - not shareholder payouts.”
