A novel way of reducing reports of sewage on our beaches!
No, not as you'd have reason to suggest, by actually reducing the incidence of pollution, but by scaling back inspections by the Environment Agency and allowing the water companies, themselves the perpetrators of the pollution, to assess their own contributions!
It's reported in The Times (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/environment-agency-scales-back-beach-sewage-pollution-inspections-66ld0nvg8) but is behind their paywall, so I'll add some of the report here:
The Environment Agency has told its officials to cut back on inspections of bathing water pollution incidents and rely instead on water company assessments.
England has more than 400 designated bathing waters from beaches to lakes in the Cotswolds and The Serpentine river in London. However, some are regularly hit by sewage spills including those that have plagued the Isle of Wight, a Cornish cove and beaches along the southeast coast in recent weeks.
Despite rising public concern over the issue, the country’s environment regulator has privately issued guidance that weakens its inspection regime when people report pollution incidents.
One UN campaigner said the shift was “like asking an arsonist to assess fire damage” and a “hammer blow” to clean water efforts.
Previously, for the two most serious of four categories of incident, “cat 1” and “cat 2”, Environment Agency officers would attend and investigate in person after a member of the public reported pollution.
However, in August, shortly before heavy rains led to a series of shocking sewage spills from Seaford in East Sussex to beaches in Devon and Cornwall, the regulator issued supplementary guidance to staff on how to classify bathing water incidents.
Officials have now been told that their usual presumption “that an impact has occurred” can be overturned if “appropriate information to demonstrate no impact has been provided by the water company.”
That really is a disgrace!
Richard Carter ● 1165d1 Comments