United Utilities have denied all responsibility for the 'raw sewage' spotted in the River Mersey last month.
The water company have blamed the pollution on a temporary caravan site and a factory illegally dumping waste into the water. A statement came after grotesque videos and images emerged of lumps of waste floating in the water at Otterspool on the weekend of August 27 and 28.
Further pollution was also reported downstream at Widnes. At the time, United Utilities, which manages region's water, insisted it was not responsible for the sewage and said 'a third party in the Otterspool area' was to blame.
READ MORE: Answers demanded over sewage being pumped into the Mersey
The company has now issued a further statement following an investigation into the two incidents. A spokesperson said: "An immediate and thorough investigation found no issues at any of our assets in the vicinity of the pollution. We did, however, find evidence that toilet and other waste had been thrown directly into the river where a temporary caravan site had been set up on Otterspool Promenade. This evidence has been given to the Environment Agency (EA) and to Liverpool City Council.
"A second pollution incident on the same weekend further downstream at Widnes is, again, unrelated to UU. Evidence linking that to illegal discharges directly into the river from a local factory has also been given to the EA.
"Around 200 reported pollution incidents a year are proven not to be linked to UU’s operations following thorough investigations. These two recent incidents demonstrate that a variety of sources have an impact on water courses, with the EA estimating that 70% is due to run off from highways and agricultural fields, private septic tanks, private drainage being incorrectly connected and other illegal activity. The remaining 30% of the impact is due to wastewater treatment processes and combined storm overflows"
A Liverpool City Council spokesman confirmed its environmental health department is investigating the reports. Around 100 beaches in England were hit by raw sewage discharges last month, sparking national outrage.
Garston and Halewood MP Maria Eagle, who wrote United Utilities chief executive Steve Mogford a strongly-worded letter signed by 18 north west Members of Parliament demanding answers to the pollution, said: "Millions of pounds of public money has been spent on cleaning up the river, but this wanton behaviour puts all that at risk. United Utilities has denied that they have caused the spill however according to the Rivers Trust, in 2021, United Utilities had 81,588 spills for 570,753 hours.
"For years, my constituents have been fleeced by privatised water companies who have invested less than necessary in infrastructure and have instead prioritised paying dividends to shareholders. Like many constituents, I am appalled that this has happened. It’s vital we ensure that this never happens again.”
In Parliament on Tuesday, September 6, she called on the Government to urgently invest in infrastructure to prevent future sewage spills. She said: "Last week, I and 17 of my north-west colleagues wrote to United Utilities about reported significant sewage releases into the River Mersey. United Utilities has simply denied that it was responsible and cited Environment Agency estimates that it is responsible for only about 30% of pollution incidents in the river.
"What will the Government do... to make sure that investment in infrastructure is brought forward? The companies seem to have got into a very bad habit of treating the money that they make as something to be given out in dividends and payments to senior executives, rather than invested in the infrastructure that will make sure that this stops in the future."
The former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustase, said: "There will be £3.1 billion of investments up to 2025, on 800 overflows, which will significantly reduce discharges by about 25% by 2025."
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