The 2014 Glastonbury Festival featured an iconic set by Dolly Parton, extreme weather from sunburn to mud baths… and a sewage leak which had a lasting impact.
Financially, it cost Glastonbury £31,000 in fines. Environmentally, 42 fish lost their lives, including a protected species of trout. The escaped sewage was alleged to have contaminated a significant area of river downstream from the Worthy Farm site.
Reputationally, the Festival survived with limited damage. In fact, the judge who presided over the Environment Agency taking the Glastonbury to court had words of praise for the Festival, its general waste management and its response to the pollution incident.
A response which remains ongoing many years later as Glastonbury continues to redefine how large festivals cope with the sewage of up to 200,000 visitors temporarily living on-site.
How did the 2014 Glastonbury Sewage Leak happen?
At the 2014 Festival, Glastonbury used three large steel tanks which normally held slurry to store human sewage from the thousands of toilets across the site.
On June 28th 2014 – the Saturday of the Festival – one of these tanks started leaking. A joint between the steel plating and the tank base failed, releasing an estimated 20,000 gallons of untreated sewage into a nearby ditch which fed into the Whitelake River.
The tank in questions was only five years old. It came with an expected lifespan of 50 years and had cost Glastonbury £100,000 to buy.
According to some reports, the leak went unnoticed for several hours until Environment Agency sensors recorded elevated ammonia levels in the river.
Environmental impact
In the court proceedings which followed the 2014 Glastonbury Sewage Leak, the Environment Agency said a four-kilometre stretch of the Whitelake River had been contaminated.
At least 42 fish were killed. Amongst that number were bullhead, stone loach and 10 brown trout – a protected species in England.
The Environment Agency classified the spill as a Category One pollution incident, signifying the most serious grade.
Legal and regulatory fallout
It would be almost two years between the leak occurring and a fine being issued for the incident after the Environment Agency took Glastonbury to court.
In January 2026, Glastonbury Festivals Ltd pleaded guilty at South Somerset and Mendip Magistrates Court in Yeovil to breaching environmental permits by allowing sewage to discharge into the Whitelake River
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis expressed his regret, calling it a “freak incident” and saying there was no disputing the leak.
There was, however, plenty of dispute over its cause and impact. Prosecuting, Kieran Martyn told the court that Glastonbury had failed to test the tank and monitor the tank properly in the lead-up to the incident. Had they done so, a wastewater holding tank repair might have prevented pollution of the river.
Glastonbury meanwhile argued that the Whitelaw River was deemed poor quality and subsequently had a history of fish death incidents.
39 of the fish recorded to have passed away did so towards the outer reaches of the claimed contaminated area. And there was no post-mortem testing of the fish to establish the cause of their deaths.
Glastonbury Festival fined £31,000 for sewage leak
Because of the differences in opinion between Glastonbury and the Environment Agency, district judge David Taylor adjourned proceedings for a Newton Hearing – a private discussion between both sides of a case held in front of a judge to establish facts before sentencing.
Said Newton Hearing took place in May 2016 at Bristol Magistrates Court. Judge Simon Cooper imposed a £12,000 fine on Glastonbury plus £19,000 in prosecution costs.
In summing up, the judge expressed surprise that the Environment Agency and Glastonbury had needed to resort to a Newton Hearing.
“I am still slightly amused that it has been necessary to go to this level of detail,” he said. “I am satisfied that there was proper planning for the festival and no criticism is made of that.”
“There was a waste management plan. There was a rivers and streams management plan. I am impressed by how responsive Glastonbury Festivals Limited have been.”
“I am bemused at the vigour and energy that has been put into this detailed analysis of what happened, much after the event.”
“I am sure lessons will be learned. I shall say no more about it, save to say that cooperation is clearly essential. I hope that this hearing has done nothing to affect that.”
Response and reforms to the 2014 Glastonbury Sewage Leak
In a public statement issued in January 2016, Glastonbury acknowledged both the 2014 leak and another smaller overflow which took place at the 2015 Festival.
It pledged to upgrade infrastructure, offer better staff training and provide enhanced environmental stewardships. Festival founder Michael Eavis went so far as to say future leaks would not happen again.
These were not just empty words. Changes were made to how toilet waste is managed at Glastonbury with a focus on facilities not requiring storage tanks which could potentially leak.
Long drops are now the most common form of toilet found at the Glastonbury Festival. Huge pits are dug into the ground and lockable, roofless cubicles placed over them.
Festival-goers do their business through a toilet and straight into the pit. It remains in the pit until it can be safely removed and transported off-site to a treatment facility.
Compost toilets are also becoming increasingly popular. Festival-goers expels their waste into a storage tank. Adding sawdust and microbes breaks the accumulated waste down over a 12 month period, after which it is used for non-food processes on the farm.
A turning point in how festivals manage environmental harm
Other festivals across the world are now looking at the innovative, sustainable and eco-friendly waste management processes at Glastonbury for inspiration.
And so what started as a structural failure in a tank at one of the world’s most famous music events has triggered an industry-wide wake-up call.
Yes, there was ecological damage. Consequences in court. And a fine. But the proactive response from Glastonbury – admission of fault, legal cooperation and changes to the Festival – illustrate a powerful lesson in accountability.
Which brings us to the bottom line: The 2014 Glastonbury Festival Sewage Leak could have been left as an embarrassing and damaging mishap.
Instead, it became a turning point in how festivals protect the environment. Ensuring they are fun for festival-goers and safer for the land they are held on.
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