South West Water has been ordered to pay £89,000 in fines and costs for polluting a stream near Exeter.
The case was brought by the Environment Agency and the court heard how large numbers of fish died following the incident in Woodbury in September 2014 following an illegal discharge from the Combined Sewer Overflow or CSO.
CSO's are allowed to discharge during storm conditions to prevent the internal flooding of properties, but they're not allowed to operate during periods of dry weather.
The spill caused effluent to be discharged into a nearby stream over one to two days. The pollution adversely affected water quality in the stream and killed more than 150 fish.
Appearing before Exeter Crown Court this week, South West Water was fined £70,000 and ordered to pay £19,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching its environmental permit.
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