By DIVE Staff
The UK’s Marine Conservation Society has reported the finding of a Freedom of Information request (FOI) sent to the Environment Agency that fewer than 10 per cent of the 7,016 emergency overflows in England’s sewerage network are properly monitored.
Unlike standard storm overflows, which were designed to be used when excess rainfall floods the sewerage network, emergency overflows are designed to be used only when there is a mechanical, technical or physical failure in the system.
Emergency overflows are intended to be a last resort as they release raw, undiluted sewage into the environment. They are therefore required to have a number of protections in place to prevent their use, including standby pumps and power, storage, and warning systems.
MCS reports that despite the safeguards, 233 of the emergency overflows are known to have discharged during 2022, 144 of them more than once.
Related stories
‘Emergency overflows are designed to be used as a last resort. Yet, from the tiny amount of data we do have, we can see that these discharges aren’t an uncommon occurrence, and there are repeat offences,’ said Laura Foster, Head of Clean Seas at the Marine Conservation Society.
‘It’s not clear why, after the first incident, measures aren’t being taken to prevent another emergency overflow discharge. Water companies are paid to treat our sewage and they need to be fulfilling this duty.
‘The failure to put procedures in place, which they’re required to do, is putting marine life, and people, at risk.’
The strictest emergency overflow safeguarding measures are implemented at emergency overflows which could discharge sewage into waters where shellfish are farmed. In 2022, however, 86 of the 318 emergency overflows located near shellfish farms discharged sewage into the water a total of 491 times.
Untreated sewage contains harmful chemicals, bacteria and viruses that pose a risk to swimmers and marine life in affected waters. Physical pollution, such as wet wipes and sanitary products are also present in sewage, and were found on 75 per cent of the beaches surveyed across England in the MCS 2022 Great British Beach Clean.
According to MCS, The UK’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is ‘considering the inclusion of Event Duration Monitoring on all emergency overflows, with regulatory reporting requirements’, but the charity says there are no timeline or targets currently in place.
The Marine Conservation Society is currently taking legal action against Defra for an inadequate plan to tackle sewage pollution. The legal case seeks to compel the Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan 2022, to impose tighter deadlines on water companies and redevelop the plan to effectively apply to coastal waters.
Emma Dearnaley, Legal Director at the Good Law Project, said: ‘These extraordinary figures suggest that the true scale of the sewage dumping crisis is even more shocking and devastating than we knew.
‘Good Law Project is playing its part to end this environment scandal by supporting the Marine Conservation Society and others in a High Court challenge next month which seeks to compel the Government to impose much more robust and urgent targets upon water companies to clean up their act.’
Launched and funded by the Good Law Project, the Marine Conservation Society will stand as co-claimants on the case with Richard Haward’s Oysters, and surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm. You can read more about the case, which goes to court on 4 July, on the MCS website.
