The message to the water industry is clean up your act or face the consequences!
The Environment Agency (EA) is stepping up its game to tackle water pollution.
Since 2015, the EA has concluded 59 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies, securing fines of over £150 million.
It has announced plans to ramp up inspections and enforcement against water companies, making sure they follow the rules and take responsibility for their environmental impact.
The EA’s plan of action includes:
- More inspections – The EA is boosting the number of inspections of water company assets. Water companies can expect more unannounced/surprise visits to keep them on their toes.
- Stronger enforcement – The EA is recruiting more staff to their water quality regulation teams for inspections and enforcement.
- Investment – Additional funding for enforcement.
- Tougher penalties – The cap on civil penalties for pollution is gone, and water company executives might lose their bonuses if their companies break the rules. This is all about encouraging better behaviour.
Holding water companies accountable
Some of these plans announced by the previous Government in early 2024 form part of the EA’s 2024/ 2025 investment plan.
This plan focused on ringfencing fines, which would be remitted to DEFRA for direct investment back into environmental and water quality improvement schemes.
The current Government is taking a different approach and is in the process of enacting The Water (Special Measures) Bill, with the promise of putting failing water companies under special measures to clean up their act.
These actions are designed to lead to cleaner water, fewer sewage spills, better-protected rivers, and improved bathing water sites.
It does appear that the last Government’s proposal to ringfence fines for the water restoration fund may not make it onto the statute books, and the future of the fund will be decided as part of the spending review.
Whilst the proposed new laws are targeting the big players in the Water Industry (i.e. giving the UK’s Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) new powers to establish rules relating to governance and remuneration), the additional funding and recruitment measures taken by the Environment Agency will result in more investigations into water pollution incidents and prosecutions generally.
All businesses need to take steps to protect the environment from pollution or potentially face unlimited fines.
Preventative measures from water pollution can be done in a number of ways, but the following may be of use:
- Proper waste disposal – Ensure that hazardous substances are disposed of correctly and not poured down drains. In this respect, staff education and training may be crucial.
- Prevent runoff – Implement measures to prevent runoff from agricultural fields, such as buffer strips and proper irrigation techniques, spill kits, or other measures to prevent spills from entering watercourses
- Have a drain plan –Make a plan of all drains/interceptors serving your site and ensure they are properly maintained and used correctly.
- Correct use of drains – Ensure contaminated water goes to the foul drain or is collected by a sealed system for re-use, on-site treatment or removal by a registered waste carrier. Check your drains for blockages and leaks. Mark your manhole covers – blue for surface water, red for foul water or red ‘C’ for a combined system where all water discharges to a treatment plant.
- Install an oil interceptor – To ensure that oil is removed from water that drains off oil-contaminated hard surfaces (this applies to any sites where there is a risk of oil contamination).
- Protect stored materials – Ensure the materials are effectively stored, and in the case of oils and hazardous liquids there is secondary containment.
- Report a pollution incident – Report a water pollution incident or any incident that might give rise to pollution of a watercourse to the Environment Agency/ Natural Resources Wales.
Contact John Dyne today to ensure your business meets the Environment Agency’s pollution standards and avoids enforcement action.