The High Court in Cardiff last week agreed River Action’s challenge of the Environment Agency’s handling of agricultural pollution in the River Wye can proceed to court. River Action argued that by failing to prevent the spread of excessive levels of manure across agricultural land in the Wye river catchment, where high phosphorus levels in […]
As England enters the autumn, the National Drought Group met to reiterate the importance of all sectors continuing to plan and invest for future droughts. Experts are pushing for more investment now to ensure England is in the best possible position ahead of future droughts, the National Drought Group heard last week (13 September). The […]
The government’s environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), has identified possible failures to comply with environmental law by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Ofwat in relation to the regulation of combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The failures relate to a possible misinterpretation of the law, which […]
An investigation by Unearthed reveals How England’s water companies struggled in last summer’s heatwaves Water supplies ran so low during last summer’s drought that England’s environmental regulator warned that companies might break the law to keep the taps running, documents obtained by Unearthed reveal. The internal briefings – obtained under freedom of information laws – […]
The Guardian reports that the nationwide Water Framework Directive (WFD) annual health check of England’s water bodies which used to take place annually, will now take six years to complete, prompting anger from campaigners and politicians, as public alarm grows over the state of the nation’s rivers and coasts. It says that, in 2019, the […]
The Environment Agency has launched a consultation on changes to variable monetary penalties – financial penalties that can be imposed for certain environmental offences. The changes will scrap the £250,000 cap on civil penalties and significantly broaden their scope to target a wider range of environmental offences. New enforcement powers will allow the Environment Agency to apply penalties […]
A coalition of 15 leading environmental groups has written to the Government urging it not to delay or cut back on environmental spend at PR24 to improve water quality. The organisations include the Wildlife Trusts, Rivers Trust, Surfers against Sewage, RSPB England, Friends of the Earth and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. They were responding to […]
The Environment Agency (EA) has published its strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use. The strategy sets out the purpose, principles and priorities for how the EA will enable safe and sustainable sludge use on land. It sets out how the EA will: enable safe and sustainable sludge use on land modernise and clarify the […]