In March we spent some time out on site in Walton le Dale with a friend from United Utilities, looking at pollution from surface water outfalls. Along a short stretch of the River Ribble and the River Darwen we found multiple polluting discharges, even though this is a small area. There are;
🫧 water company surface water sewers,
🎥 private surface water sewers,
🚗 local authority highway outfalls,
🚚 National Highways highway outfalls,
🧼 a trade effluent discharge (straight to river!!),
🌊 a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO),
💩 Walton le Dale Sewage Treatment Works (can you spot it in the picture?) and,
🏭 just off the picture, an industrial estate outfall.
The only two of those polluting discharges that are controlled using the regulatory framework are the CSO and the Sewage Treatment Works, both of which are owned and operated by United Utilities. So how can it be acceptable that none of the other polluting discharges are controlled using the existing regulations? And how will we ever deliver better river health if we only deal with one source of pollution?
What is particularly interesting for this small catchment is that many millions of pounds have been spent here in the last two decades by the Environment Agency building flood defences to prevent homes and businesses from flooding. But pollution control is not carried out, and the Environment Agency is taking no action at all to control the pollution from the roads, from the industrial estate, from the car wash or from the surface water sewers. It makes no sense at all to invest millions in flood defences, but to leave the river pollution completely unchecked. The regulators need to work more cohesively and proportionately so that all factors affecting the river are dealt with at the same time, to restore our rivers to full health as soon as we can. Do you see river pollution in the rivers where you live? If you see a pollution, report it using the Environment Agency hotline on 0800 807060 so that they know where the pollution is coming from.
Image Credit: Google maps
