21 Jul 2022

Yorkshire Water has been fined £1,600,750 for polluting a Bradford watercourse in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. The company appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court for sentence on Monday, 18 July, where it pleaded guilty to unauthorised sewage discharges into Bradford Beck, and breaches of its environmental permit. The court heard its George Street […]

14 Jul 2022

The Environment Agency is today calling for: Courts to impose much higher fines for serious and deliberate pollution incidents. Fines currently handed down by the courts often amount to less than a Chief Executive’s salary. Prison sentences for Chief Executives and Board members whose companies are responsible for the most serious incidents and company directors struck […]

13 Jul 2022

Environment Agency chief warns of irreversible biodiversity damage that could eventually kill off humans. A new Environment Agency study shows 41% of England’s native flora and fauna species have considerably decreased since 1970, with 15% at serious risk of extinction. As reported by Sky, in a speech to mark a new report on the extent […]

07 Jul 2022

An extract from an Environment Agency blog: June and July 2007. The most severe and widespread inland flooding we have seen since 1947 with more than 55,000 properties flooded, mainly across Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Many more lost essential services such as water, electricity and telecommunications. The Ulley reservoir dam […]

07 Jul 2022

The Environment Agency has begun introducing planning assumptions for a global rise of up to 4°C due to climate change, with a shift to resilience rather than an onus on protection of properties in the future. Speaking as part of New Civil Engineer’s Future of Floods conference, Environment Agency director of flood risk strategy and national […]

29 Jun 2022

The Environment Secretary has selected Alan Lovell DL as the Government’s preferred candidate for Chair of the Environment Agency. Mr Lovell’s selection followed a rigorous process conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) will now hold […]

28 Jun 2022

The Telegraph has published an opinion piece on the importance of water quality to public health, written by: Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty; Chair of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd; and Ofwat Chair, Jonson Cox. Defra Media have subsequently published details of the article on their website: ‘The joint article highlights that while no […]

28 Jun 2022

One of the UK’s biggest dairy firms has been fined £1.5m for repeatedly polluting a river near its Cornwall factory and causing local residents to suffer years of noxious smells – but the problems are continuing, the Guardian reports. Dairy Crest was sentenced at Truro crown court for repeatedly breaching its environmental permit at Davidstow creamery in […]