Severn Trent has hit back after investigators claimed the water company may be using 420 'illegal' discharge pipes which are polluting waters with sewage. In a wider investigation looking at other water companies, investigators found those with no permits and potentially in use totalled more than 870, allegedly including 184 with Welsh Water.
The companies told the Channel 4 Dispatches probe they were working with the Environment Agency to ensure the correct permits were in place for all storm overflows, reports the Mirror. Severn Trent told Nottinghamshire Live that the interpretation of the data was not accurate.
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “The interpretation of this data is not accurate. Permits can be at varying stages of an administration process and we work through this standard rolling programme with the Environment Agency. Severn Trent is consistently recognised as a leading UK water company and has been awarded the very highest 4-star status by the Environment Agency for the last three years. We also achieved the highest percentage of targets across the sector with 86% of measures successfully delivered including leakage, pollutions and biodiversity."
Read more: MP Tom Randall hits back at claims he voted for raw sewage dumping with his own plaque
Nick Voulvoulis, professor of Environmental Technology at Imperial College London, said: “We have overflows used in some cases when it doesn’t rain or when it is not extreme rain.” It comes after demonstrators formed a human chain at Saltburn beach, North Yorkshire, in protest at sewage pollution.
It came as a whistleblower revealed cuts had left the Environment Agency struggling to regulate firms. Helen Nightingale, who recently retired from the EA, said: “We aren’t as aggressive, we don’t enforce to the same extent.”
The annual EA budget for enforcement has fallen from £11.6million to £7m since 2010. An EA spokesman said it had to prioritise due to this. Regulator Ofwat has imposed penalties of £250million in the past five years and said it took its responsibilities seriously.
- Dispatches is on Channel 4 tonight at 9.30pm.
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