David Levy – Who will bring our failing water industry and regulators to account? – Sep 21

The Government gave an effective two finger response yesterday to those of us campaigning for both cleaner rivers and for placing a duty on the water companies to make improvements on their discharge practices.

Permission was given by the Environment Agency (08/09/2021) to the water companies, upon notification from them to the EA, to allow them to discharge untreated and poorly treated sewage from sewage treatment works because chemicals used by the water companies have become in short supply.   Implementation immediate.

How long this practice will be allowed to take place is unclear, but it demonstrates most graphically how DEFRA and the EA will bend over backwards to assist this failing industry.

The message is clear.   People do not matter when it comes to it.   Protect this cash cow industry for economic reasons that make sense only to the Treasury.   This devaluation of treatment quality is done with the full knowledge and connivance of DEFRA and the EA who continually find ways to ignore breaches in discharge standards.

What is crystal clear to me is the absolute need in law for the Duke of Wellington’s Amendments (Marinet) because this industry will continue to fail the environment, and these kind of discharges are likely to increase.

The only way to halt this is to make the industry legally accountable both now and in the future.   For this to happen the tools need to be present in the law — the new Environment Bill (Act).

Even then the odds are stacked up against improvements because of a cowardly enforcement regime established by Government.

In addition, the action needed to take the water companies and regulators to court has to be done by environmental lawyers, and they have been reluctant to get involved.

I will leave you to guess as to why?

David Levy