Welsh Water fined £1.3m for 'negligent' monitoring
The company pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to more than 800 offences in 2020 and 2021.
It blamed the failures on a reorganisation and the implementation of a new system at the same time as the Covid pandemic.
District judge Gwyn Jones concluded the company had been negligent and had "no doubt caused significant embarrassment to all those dedicated personnel in Dwr Cymru".
Since 2010 there has been a requirement on water companies to carry out self-monitoring of discharges from their sewage works and water treatment works, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said in a statement after the ruling.
"Upon receiving its 2020 annual report, NRW officers were alarmed to find that the quality of the information provided had noticeably deteriorated compared to previous years, with over 600 breaches recorded.
"These were spread across some 300 sites across Wales and Herefordshire," it said.
It added that "contingency plans should have been in place to ensure the company met their legal duty to comply with their permits while going through the restructure".
Welsh Water has also been ordered to pay just over £70,000 in costs after pleading guilty, NRW said.
Sewage leaks catastrophic, say campaigners
Underperforming Welsh Water ordered to pay £24m
Welsh Water bills to rise annually for five years
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
2 hours ago
- Business Wire
AAHI Partners with Quratis to Strengthen Global Vaccine Manufacturing and Accelerate Access to Lifesaving Vaccines
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI), a global leader in translating high-impact science into scalable, field-ready vaccine solutions, today announced an exciting new partnership with Quratis, a premier biotechnology company and advanced Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). This collaboration marks a pivotal step forward in breaking through barriers in global health equity around the world. Under this strategic alliance, Quratis has been selected as AAHI's preferred manufacturer for high-quality pre-clinical and clinical vaccine supplies, with the capacity to expand into commercial-scale production for global markets. This collaboration will accelerate the development of AAHI's innovative vaccine candidates targeting deadly diseases such as tuberculosis, and of vaccines that rely on AAHI's vaccine adjuvants to provide protection against malaria, HIV, and other global health threats. Quratis brings a world-class GMP-certified bioplant and cutting-edge CDMO expertise in biopharmaceutical raw material development, process optimization, and finished pharmaceutical manufacturing. By designating Quratis as preferred partner, AAHI strengthens both its scientific capabilities and access to scalable, cost-effective production of its groundbreaking vaccine formulations—including dry vaccines that eliminate cold chain dependencies and needle-free delivery systems for superior respiratory protection. The partnership ensures a seamless supply chain platform, enabling swift clinical development and broader deployment to the world's most vulnerable populations. "Partnering with Quratis is a very important step in AAHI's strategy to advance practical, life-saving vaccines, that can be deployed at scale where they're needed most,' said Keeley Foley, CEO of AAHI. 'Quartis' innovative cutting edge, safe, world-class CDMO capabilities makes it possible for AAHI to deliver on our mission – and helps ensure our efforts to combat infectious diseases and foster health autonomy worldwide. Together, we're not just manufacturing vaccines—we're delivering an important mission to revolutionize global health." Quratis, renowned for its global innovation in healthcare, brings unparalleled expertise in vaccine development and manufacturing to the table. With a track record of success in TB and COVID-19 vaccines like QTP101 and QTP104, Quratis' advanced processes will enhance AAHI's pipeline, ensuring high-quality, efficient production from pre-clinical stages through clinical trials. "We are honored and thrilled to join forces with AAHI, a pioneer in immune-enhancing technologies and sustainable vaccine solutions," said Soung Joon Kim, CEO of Quratis. "This partnership aligns perfectly with our vision of making people happy and healthy through borderless healthcare innovations. By supporting AAHI's pipeline, we expect to create value not only for global health, but also for our shareholders through long-term growth opportunities.' The partnership builds on existing collaborations, including the co-development of the ID93+GLA-SE tuberculosis vaccine candidate (QTP101), and underscores a shared commitment to strengthening international vaccine supply chains, advancing equitable access, and fostering worldwide manufacturing capacity for sustainable program deployment. For more information about this partnership or to explore collaboration opportunities, and order pre clinical materials please contact info@ About Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) is a global leader in developing practical, cost-effective vaccines to combat deadly diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV. With a mission to translate high-impact science into scalable, field-ready solutions, AAHI breaks through barriers in global health by creating innovative vaccine formulations, building worldwide manufacturing capacity, and fostering partnerships to ensure sustainable, equitable health outcomes. For more information, visit or contact us at info@ About Quratis Quratis Inc. is a leading biopharmaceutical company specializing in innovative vaccine development and advanced biologics manufacturing. With a state-of-the-art GMP facility and strong global partnerships, Quratis is at the forefront of developing next-generation vaccines against infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, COVID-19, schistosomiasis, and neglected tropical diseases. In addition to its core vaccine pipeline, Quratis offers superior CDMO capabilities, including expertise in mRNA–LNP drug delivery platforms that provide seamless bench-to-field support from research through commercial production. By combining cutting-edge R&D with scalable manufacturing, Quratis is committed to delivering high-quality, accessible, and life-saving solutions to patients worldwide. For more information, visit
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Kiss job hopping goodbye. Why more people are job hugging.
Have you hugged your job lately? Maybe you should. Forget job hopping, more people are job hugging in the cooling labor market. 'At an alarming rate, more and more employees are displaying what is colloquially known as 'job hugging' – which is to say, holding onto their jobs for dear life,' Korn Ferry, an organizational consulting firm, reports. Most employees plan to cling to their current employer for the next six months, according to the Eagle Hill Retention Index. 'Worker confidence in job opportunities is dwindling for nearly all U.S. workers as uncertainty looms around the broader economic outlook and job threats like AI and automation,' Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting, said in a statement. The quits rate – the rate at which workers voluntarily leave their jobs and a gauge of their perceptions of the labor market – has stayed around 2% since the start of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's significant because levels haven't remained so consistently low since 2016, apart from the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers' growing reluctance to change jobs reflects heightened worries over job security as nervous employers turn more cautious, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. Shock jobs report stirs recession fears: Takeaways "It may also reflect the surge in job switching that occurred during the pandemic, as workers landed in better jobs that were more suited to their skills and interests and paid better, and are now reluctant to leave those jobs," he said. U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July as payroll growth slowed amid President Donald Trump's import tariffs, the immigration crackdown and massive federal layoffs. With hiring stalled and job growth sluggish, workers are nervous about landing the next gig so they are staying put instead. But they aren't very happy about it. Social media is rife with cautionary tales, such as frustrated job seekers submitting hundreds of applications with no callbacks and overqualified candidates applying in droves for entry-level positions. 'My cousin made the mistake of quitting her job because the situation was so toxic,' one person said on Reddit. 'She thought with her experience she'd easily find something new and now she's working overnights at a gas station to try and stop the hemorrhage of money.' Workers say employers have the upper hand and they are using it to enforce return-to-office mandates and to slash benefits. 'They know how bad the job market is out there so they can get away with this. Their employees can't leave because there aren't better opportunities out there,' another employee said on Reddit. 'It's extremely frustrating and has made lots of people in my company feel hopeless. We're stuck.'
Atlantic
2 hours ago
- Atlantic
A MAHA Progress Report
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent the past six months working fast to embed his Make America Healthy Again creed into American life. Over the summer alone, he has struck deals with some food companies to phase out some petroleum-based food dyes, waged a war against pediatricians over COVID-19 vaccines for young children, seemingly toyed with the idea of shipping fresh food to Americans in ' MAHA boxes,' and pledged to reboot the nation's dietary guidelines from scratch. I spoke with the Atlantic staff writer Nicholas Florko, who reports on health policy, about how the MAHA-fication of the country is coming along. Nicholas Florko: We've seen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. take actions that will weaken our vaccination system in the United States, confirming some of public health's worst fears. But there have also been some surprising successes in his term. RFK Jr. has embraced the role of a dealmaker, and we've seen him leaning on food companies in particular to change their offerings and get rid of synthetic dyes. He's been able to do that simply by asking and by making handshake agreements, as opposed to what we would normally expect from a health secretary—for him to use his regulatory power to force these changes. Stephanie: Why are these handshake agreements proving successful? Nicholas: Food companies likely realize that it's in their best interest to get on the good side of the Trump administration. We see this throughout all sectors of business, but for the food sector, these changes are small enough that companies can make them without dramatically hurting their bottom line, while also earning a lot of brownie points with the administration. Stephanie: That reminds me of President Donald Trump's announcement in July that Coca-Cola, famously his favorite drink, had agreed to make their soda with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. To what extent is Trump influencing health policy? Does RFK Jr. have a lot of latitude? Nicholas: The Coca-Cola issue is an interesting one because while it's true that RFK Jr. is very anti–high-fructose corn syrup, he's also publicly called sugar a 'poison.' So this is one of those instances where you wonder what is behind RFK Jr. supporting this change. He must know that this isn't actually going to significantly improve public health, but also probably realizes that this is important to his boss. That being said, I think that RFK Jr. does have some latitude. If you left Trump to his own devices, you probably wouldn't see the same level of aggression toward food companies overall, unless he had a personal stake in the situation. Stephanie: With back-to-school season under way, many students are getting up-to-date on their shots. How does this year's vaccination season compare to years past? Nicholas: We haven't seen huge changes, but we are seeing some hints of what might come. Much of the action thus far is around COVID vaccines. In February the president issued a largely symbolic executive order barring schools from enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but by the time that was issued, virtually no schools actually had such a policy. RFK Jr. also softened the CDC's recommendation for kids to get the COVID-19 vaccine. That's probably been one of his most controversial decisions, prompting a high-profile clash with pediatricians; a leading pediatrics group put out its own suggestions saying that children should be getting vaccinated. But we haven't seen major changes to the other vaccines typically required for returning to school. Stephanie: That disagreement must make it confusing for parents to know who to listen to. Nicholas: It's reasonable to assume that a good portion of people will listen to RFK Jr., but those people may be already skeptical of vaccines and see him as a trustworthy messenger, versus folks who are on the fence. I think that's really the question: Where do those people who are on the fence go? Do they take RFK Jr.'s suggestion, or do they trust their doctor? Stephanie: In May, you wrote a story that was alarming for salad lovers, specifically about how bagged lettuce should be avoided. What's happening with America's food-safety system? Nicholas: One of the earliest, most concerning changes for food safety happened when DOGE came into the federal agencies. Advisory committees focused on food-safety questions were shut down. People were being laid off—such as the administrative staff in charge of making sure that inspectors can go out to farms. Some layoffs seem to have been rescinded, but there's a broad worry about what will happen to the day-to-day operations that we all depend on to keep us safe. Stephanie: A recent story about the recall of frozen shrimp with potential radioactive contamination has caused a bit of a panic about where America's food safety is headed. How did you take that news? Nicholas: One thing that gives me some hope is the fact that this is the sort of thing that we caught, and there have been recalls by Walmart. That's really the big fear when it comes to food safety: that if we attack these federal programs, they're not going to be able to actually find the food that might get us sick before a lot of people get sick. So I think this is actually a good sign that things are working relatively well. Stephanie: Out of all the stories you've written this past summer about the MAHA movement, is there one that keeps you up at night? And is there one that makes you feel hopeful for where American health and safety is going? Nicholas: Honestly, the stories that keep me up at night are by our colleague Katie Wu. Her recent one on RFK Jr.'s COVID revenge campaign has really stuck with me. My own story that both keeps me up at night and that makes me hopeful is related to states, which are taking up the MAHA charge in a very quick fashion. It's felt like Republican governors and legislatures are all trying to out-MAHA one another to ingratiate themselves to Trump and to RFK Jr. Some of these ideas are good from a public-health perspective, but these states are doing a lot of things really fast, which is what worries me. For example, some states are blocking people from using food stamps to buy soda and other junk food. There's a question of how that policy will be implemented, how the attempts to enact these restrictions could affect the entire food-stamp system. Other states have passed laws banning artificial dyes in their school meals. Again, it's one of those ideas that's a good step, but the devil is in the details of how it's executed. How does this flurry of activity in the states actually affect people in the coming months? Does this ultimately make America healthier, or does it send our food system into chaos? Here are three new stories from The Atlantic: Today's News A New York appeals court voided the roughly $500 million civil-fraud penalty against President Donald Trump, calling it 'excessive,' but upheld the finding that Trump and his company committed long-running business fraud. Business restrictions on Trump in New York remain, and the state plans to appeal. More immigrants are leaving the U.S. than arriving, according to the Pew Research Center. The shift, affected by Trump's strict immigration policies, is the first of its kind since the 1960s. California lawmakers passed the first of three bills on a redistricting plan backed by Governor Gavin Newsom that would shift as many as five Republican-held U.S. House seats toward Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms. The move comes a day after Texas state House Republicans passed a new congressional map that could add five U.S. House seats for the GOP. Evening Read What We Gain When We Stop Caring By Anna Holmes Sometime in the early aughts, the comedian Amy Poehler made a vulgar joke while sitting in the Saturday Night Live writers' room waiting for a midweek read-through to begin. As detailed in Tina Fey's 2011 memoir, Bossypants, Jimmy Fallon, who was also in the show's cast at the time, jokingly recoiled and told Poehler to stop it. 'It's not cute!' Fallon exclaimed. 'I don't like it.' 'Amy dropped what she was doing, went black in the eyes for a second, and wheeled around on him,' Fey writes. ''I don't fucking care if you like it.'' Read the full article. More From The Atlantic Read. In 2022, The Atlantic 's Culture writers recommended the books that they read too late —but that you should read now. Take a look. This is how the 17th-century painter Rachel Ruysch became one of the greatest still-life painters in the history of art, Zachary Fine writes. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
