NATURE Birds in Langstone Harbour. Picture: Allan Hutchings (093921-436)
Published in the Portsmouth News on Tuesday 17th July 2012
Story by Jeff Travis
SOUTHERN Water has been criticised for pumping an unprecedented amount of sewage into a harbour over the past two months.
In total, 21 sewage discharges spilled into Langstone Harbour during June alone.
This month there have already been six spills by Southern Water into the protected beauty spot, compared to 47 for the whole of last year.
It comes as the sewers and pumping stations have struggled to cope with the wet summer.
The sewage has come from pumping stations at Drayton and Fort Cumberland, Eastney.
Some has been screened to remove large items, but some coming from Fort Cumberland has been in its raw form as the filtering system has failed.
The unscreened leaks are illegal and have been reported to the Environment Agency.
One example occurred on June 5, when raw sewage was pumped into the harbour for five hours.
Such spillages have landed the company in court before, with a £50,000 fine two years ago for 36 illegal discharges from an outfall pipe at Eastney.
Continue reading Sewage spills into wildlife oasis as sewers cannot cope
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