Most sewage spills in England may be illegal, new research suggests
Summary
New research suggests that over 80% of sewage spills into England's waterways in the past two years may have broken the law because they happened during normal weather when spills are not allowed. The research is based on secret court documents that define "heavy rain" conditions, which water companies can use to justify spills, but most spills happened without heavy rain. The Environment Agency and water companies disagree with this analysis but say they are working to reduce spills.Key Facts
- UK law prohibits raw sewage release during normal weather conditions, but "normal" was not clearly defined until now.
- Secret court documents gave a definition of "heavy rain," which allows sewage spills legally only during such conditions.
- Professor Peter Hammond analyzed data from over 350 storm overflow points covering nine water companies serving more than 30 million people.
- Hammond found about 86% of sewage spills occurred without heavy rain, which could mean they were illegal.
- All water companies had spill rates potentially illegal more than 70% of the time in the last two years.
- The Environment Agency says the "heavy rain" threshold varies by region and that Hammond's national analysis overlooks this.
- The overall issue is linked to combined sewer systems that carry both rainwater and sewage, which overflow when capacity is exceeded.
- There have been previous criticisms of the Environment Agency's enforcement of sewage spill rules.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
