THAMES Water has been handed the biggest ever fine issued by regulator Ofwat for serious failings in environmental responsibilities.
The water provider has been issued with a fine of more than £100 million for breaches of rules over its sewage handling and a further £20 million for breaches of shareholder payout regulations.
It comes after a regulatory investigation–thought to be one of the largest conducted by Ofwat–found that there had been considerable failures by the company to build and maintain infrastructure to meet its environmental obligations.
A fine of £104.5m was issued as Ofwat ruled that there had also been a failure to rectify its shortcomings.
A further fine of £18.2m has been imposed following rule-breaking on its dividend payments– the first time a fine has been issued from the regulator over payment breaches.
The penalties were first proposed last year, before Thames Water staved off an imminent collapse earlier this year, as it continues to battle with more than £20 billion in debts and increasing calls for nationalisation.
Steve Reed, Environment Secretary, said: “The era of profiting from failure is over–the government is cleaning up our rivers, lakes, and seas for good.”
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously and note that Ofwat acknowledges we have already made progress to address issues raised in the investigation relating to storm overflows.
“The dividends were declared following a consideration of the company’s legal and regulatory obligations.
“Our lenders continue to support our liquidity position and our equity-raise process continues.”
