03 Dec 2024

New figures from Wildlife and Countryside Link reveal an ongoing pollution problem from bee-killing pesticides in English rivers. 85% of rivers tested in 2023 – 2024 were found to have bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides present, with the proportion affected seeming to have risen slightly from previous years. Campaigners call on the Government to deliver a step […]

03 Dec 2024

From Wicked Leeks Earlier this year, Wicked Leeks brought you the story of poo, pollution and profits: how the UK’s intensive poultry industry has become a runaway train that was killing our rivers. Since then, the slope has grown even more slippery. “We are at ‘peak poultry’,” says Ruth Westcott, a campaigner with Sustain, who has been […]

03 Dec 2024

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has launched an investigation into the government’s Statutory Guidance on applying the Farming Rules for Water (FRfW). These regulations aim to reduce and prevent water pollution from agriculture by requiring farmers to plan the application of organic manure and manufactured fertiliser so that it does not exceed the needs […]

14 Nov 2024

Wessex Water has been found negligent after sewage leaks killed thousands of fish – with the company failing to report incidents to the Environment Agency as early as it should have.   Photo credit: Rijk van de Kaa   Swindon Magistrates’ Court today sentenced the company to pay a total fine of £500,000 after it […]

30 Oct 2024

According to The Observer, Water firms “passed” thousands of pollution tests under a self-monitoring regime … yet the tests were never even conducted, the Observer can reveal. The water firms’ own operational data for sewage plants across the country reveals how outflows of effluent had stopped – in some cases for just a few hours – on […]

22 Oct 2024

Research conducted by the Marine Conservation Society and the University of Portsmouth has revealed that sewage discharges are a significant source of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) pollution in marine environments. PFAS also known as ‘forever chemicals’ are a complex group of nearly 15,000 substances used in consumer products around the world since the 1950s. […]

16 Oct 2024

Pollution, habitat degradation, impacts of climate change, and the over-use of freshwater resources are putting pressure on Europe’s lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwaters like never before. According to the largest assessment on the health of Europe’s water bodies, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA), Europe is not on track to meet its […]

16 Oct 2024

Reported in The Guardian A freshwater lake that attracts more than 30,000 swimmers a year is under threat of closure from an Environment Agency (EA) plan to reduce flooding that will channel in polluted river water, according to campaigners. Almost 50,000 people have signed a petition calling on the EA and Surrey county council to reroute the flood […]