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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sandra Laville

Ministers may have broken law over sewage dumping in England, says watchdog

Outfall into a river
Discharges of raw sewage are allowed to be released from storm overflows on the network only in exceptional circumstances, such as very heavy rainfall. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

The government and regulators may have broken the law by failing to stem raw sewage dumping into rivers by water companies in England, the new independent environmental watchdog has said.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), which was set up after Brexit to replace the enforcement powers of the European Commission, said an investigation suggested the government, the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat may be failing to comply with environmental law and allowing raw sewage to be discharged by water companies more frequently than the law allows.

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