Coastal engineers, waste management and pollution researchers at the University of Southampton and Queen Mary University of London have highlighted the increasing environmental risks associated with coastal landfill sites in the face of climate change. Rising sea levels may flood the landfills, flushing pollutants into the environment, whilst erosion could release waste onto beaches to […]
‘Speech by Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, World Water Tech Innovation Summit, 22 February 2022 Thank you for inviting me back. ‘……….. Two years ago I said that all of us need to think differently if we are to tackle successfully the new reality of the climate emergency. Today I want […]
UK Government has moved to recognise the circular economy. But what happens if the ‘circles’ keep getting bigger? That is the fundamental problem based on many projections of the growth in plastic production – pick your graph from this lot. This is the Oil & Gas industries plan B. EcoWatch ‘Plastics quickly became popular for […]
Minister Pow’s visit to the Wye highlights the ongoing high profile of river pollution. More alarming for Government (see below) is the Daily Telegraph has begun a Clean Rivers campaign which it has run on its front page for several days this week. Minister Pow visit to the River Wye Defra Media ‘There has been […]
Pharmaceuticals in rivers threaten world health – study BBC ‘Pollution of the world’s rivers from medicines and pharmaceutical products poses a “threat to environmental and global health”, a report says (see link below). Paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs were widely detected in a University of York study. The research is among the […]
Guardian Drinking water containing dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals has been pumped into the homes of more than 1,000 people, the Guardian can reveal. Cambridge Water has admitted it removed a supply containing four times the legal limit of perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) from the homes of customers in south Cambridgeshire in June last year. […]
The Guardian Jan 29th Sandra Laville and Rachel Salvidge ‘It is desperate’: how Environment Agency staff were silenced as pollution worsened As public disgust at foul waterways in England grew, the body responsible for protecting them tried to stifle internal criticism The internal email dropped into staff inboxes at a time when public outrage about pollution in English […]
https://www.ciwem.org/news/tackling-sewage-borne-litter Guest blog by Dr Peter Matthews, past president of CIWEM and former chair of Natural Resources Wales Government is currently calling for evidence on commonly littered and problematic plastic items. In line with its stated commitment to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042 it is consulting on bans on a range of single-use plastics. It wants […]