Companies in Yorkshire paid over £1.7 million in Enforcement Undertakings for environmental offences in 2023.
More than £1.7 million was paid to environmental charities or projects across Yorkshire last year through Enforcement Undertakings paid by companies or individuals found to have been damaging the environment and breaching the law.
In Yorkshire, nine Enforcement Undertakings were agreed by the Environment Agency in 2023, an increase from four in 2022. The Undertakings, amounting to £1,718,128.19, will go to charities including Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, The Aire Rivers Trust and Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency said.
An Enforcement Undertaking is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending, the Environment Agency said. Undertakings include donations to an environmental charity to carry out environmental improvements in the local area.
Protecting the environment in Yorkshire and taking action against those that damage or threaten this is our utmost priority.
Mike Dugher, Environment Agency Area Director for Yorkshire, commented: “Protecting the environment in Yorkshire and taking action against those that damage or threaten this is our utmost priority.
“While we will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases, Enforcement Undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements.
“They allow polluters to correct and restore the harm caused to the environment and prevent repeat incidents by improving their procedures, helping ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.”
The latest round of penalties, agreed between June – October 2023 included £150,000 paid by Yorkshire Water to Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust for an unauthorised crude sewage discharge into Kirk Bridge Dike and the River Don, Sheffield in April 2020.
In addition to making the payment of £150,000, Yorkshire Water agreed to cover the Environment Agency’s investigation costs and to replace the sensor on the telemetry equipment at Darnall Road Combined Sewer Overflow.
