Overview
- The Environment Agency accepted seven legally binding enforcement undertakings from Yorkshire Water after sewage spills, securing £2.35 million for local restoration projects.
- Payments include £500,000 to Don Catchment Rivers Trust for incidents in Barnsley and Doncaster, £350,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust for Leyburn, and £300,000 to Aire Rivers Trust for Leeds.
- The breaches occurred between 2019 and 2023 and involved unauthorised discharges into the Rivers Ure, Dearne, Aire and Calder.
- Yorkshire Water has repaired sites, installed new alarms and telemetry, commissioned ecological surveys, updated procedures, and will cover the regulator’s investigation costs.
- The package sits within a record £8.5 million in restoration funding nationwide alongside more than 10,000 Environment Agency inspections of treatment works, pumping stations and storm overflows in the last year.