At the Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on September 29, 2023, South West Water pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including 17 illegal sewage discharges and a failure to act after a pumping‑station collapse, covering incidents from January 2015 to July 2021.
Polperro Harbour’s August 24, 2019 spill, where untreated sewage gushed through the harbour wall, drew a £1.1 million penalty, while Harlyn beach saw 231 discharges between 2016 and 2021 and the Bodmin works recorded 336 illegal releases into the River Camel over the same period.
Judge Marjorie Matson branded the conduct "reckless" and warned that "one pollution is too many," echoing Environment Agency Area Manager Clarissa Newell’s call for a shift toward safeguarding spending; she added the record fine should spur a new approach.
South West Water said it is channeling £760 million into storm‑overflow upgrades, claiming a 17 percent drop in spills last year, but faces a 56‑day deadline to clear the £7.867 million penalty, after a £2.15 million fine in 2023 for earlier incidents.