Pollution incident not our fault - South West Water

An investigation by a water company has found a pollution incident was run-off from nearby fields and not sewage from an overflow pipe.

The incident at St Agnes, Cornwall, on 30 October turned the sea brown.

South West Water (SWW) said it had investigated and concluded "the discharge ... was not caused by our activity or one of our assets".

The local parish council said it wanted to know what would be done to prevent such incidents in the future.

SWW said a pipe above the beach filmed flushing brown water was not believed to belong to it.

"This is an outlet pipe, likely owned by the landowner or the local river authority, that pulls in multiple sources, including from nearby waterways, run-off from agricultural land, as well as from the storm overflow," a statement said.

The Environment Agency agreed the "majority of discolouration on the video footage was likely to be from land run-off, perhaps soil or silt, following heavy rainfall".

It added that there were discharges from two sewage overflow pipes, "meaning that storm water would have entered the stream and cove at St Agnes that day".

The two spills lasted for 60 minutes and 90 minutes respectively and had "been assessed as being compliant with the relevant environmental permits", the agency said.

Despite discolouration, samples on the day showed "the bathing water met its normal, 'excellent' quality", SWW said.

The utility firm met members of the community at a meeting on Monday evening about the incident.

Mark Nason, from St Agnes Parish Council, said the community wanted "more of an understanding of the circumstances that led to the discharges".

He added that they would be following SWW's "next steps in terms of future investment to prevent this from happening again".

SWW said it was speaking with the council and wildlife groups about potential solutions to prevent future run-off, including trying to see "what resources and money" might be needed for "long-term plans".

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