British water companies are battling $2 billion in lawsuits over sewage pollution

Six British water companies underreported sewage discharges and overcharged millions of customers by up to 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion), lawyers who brought a landmark lawsuit to a London court said on Monday.

Utilities, including Britain’s biggest water supplier Thames Water, are accused of misleading industry regulator Ofwat about the number of pollution incidents, which meant they were able to charge higher prices big for customers.

But the six companies – which also include Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water – say the case should be thrown out.

The lawsuit, the first environmental competition action to be brought in the UK, comes as the amount of waste water pumped into Britain’s waterways sparked public outrage, prompting the government to employ tighter oversight.

Environment and water consultant Carolyn Roberts wants to bring the case, which claims the six water companies “significantly and/or systemically under-reported” the number of pollution incidents to Ofwat.

Julian Gregory, a lawyer representing Roberts, told the Competition Appeal Tribunal that Thames Water alone could have failed to report more than 6,000 discharges.

Roberts’ lawyers are pricing the case against Thames Water, which is heavily indebted and trying to raise cash to stabilize its finances, at around £200m.

Gregory said the six cases would have to be certified to proceed to trial, an early step in the case. However, the water companies say the case falls outside English law governing the water industry and should be dismissed.

Industry body Water UK said in a statement: “This highly speculative claim is completely without merit. The regulator has confirmed that over 99% of sewerage works comply with legal requirements.”

The hearing will end on Thursday, and a decision on whether the case can continue is expected at a later date.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Mark Potter)

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