From the Guardian Water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers 372,533 times last year, a slight reduction on the previous year. The water companies covering England released untreated sewage for a combined total of more than 2.7m hours; compared with 3.1m hours in 2020, according to data released by the Environment Agency (EA) on […]
An investigative report by Lighthouse estimates that 3,000 vessels discharge mineral oil into European waters annually – the equivalent to eight spills per day, each the size of 750 football fields. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has spent millions of euros creating an elaborate system, CleanSeaNet, that aims to monitor and prevent bilge dumping […]
Tiny particles that rub off of tyres are likely harming freshwater and coastal estuary ecosystems. The first study, published in Chemosphere last month, found that exposure to tyre particles had harmful effects on organisms from coastal estuaries, while the second, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found the same for freshwater organisms. Both studies grow out of […]
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 […]