Elliot Morley: ...issued for the dumping of toxic waste, even though the Government promised that it would be stopped by December last year? Is he further aware of the disappointment that licences will be issued for sewage sludge dumping for at least eight more years? I appreciate that there has been a decade of lack of investment in sewage outfall works, but will the Minister take steps to phase out...
Richard Fuller: Going back to the Victorian era when the water companies were putting in their pipes, they did not take action on sewage overflow. Perhaps they should have. In the 13 years that the Labour Government were in office, they took no action on sewage overflow. Perhaps they should have. This Government are taking action on sewage overflow, but doing so will cost tens of billions of pounds of...
Mr Harold Gurden: ...when I spoke in Committee last week on the first Amendment on the Notice Paper that day. It was agreed then that I was in order in raising the matter. I therefore mention again the question of sewage disposal works operated by joint boards. Through no fault of mine, and because of circumstances out of my control, an Amendment on the subject was not tabled on Clause 1. The matter perhaps...
Alex Cole-Hamilton: I am grateful for that reply. Raw sewage is released into our rivers every day. It is routinely dumped by Scotland’s Government-owned water company. Thanks to investigations by The Ferret, we now know that that happened more than 10,000 times last year, which was 30 times a day. Scottish Water is required to monitor only 3 per cent of sewage release points, so the true figure will be much...
Mr Thomas Williams: ...supplies, I am afraid I must ask the Committee to reject this Amendment. I think most hon. Members will know why, without my developing it to any extent. The need for sewerage, or the disposal of sewage, in a rural locality rests on public health grounds and not on grounds of fertility and, in deciding whether to make a contribution to any scheme, it is perfectly obvious that the Minister...
Therese Coffey: Pollution caused by sewage is mainly addressed through the implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations, which have set standards for the collection and treatment of sewage since 1994. Since privatisation, around £25 billion has been invested to reduce pollution from sewage, covering improvements in sewage treatment and in sewer overflows. In England, between 2015 and 2020...
Rebecca Pow: All data held by the Environment Agency on water abstractions, sewage treatment effluents or sewage related discharges is Environmental Information and available on request or in some cases is published on GOV.UK. Water and sewerage companies have published Event and Duration Monitoring (EDM) data relating to sewage discharges annually since 2020 that can be found here. The 2022 data will...
Aileen McLeod: As long as it is well managed, the use of sewage sludge allows us to recycle valuable materials in a way that is safe and environmentally beneficial. It should cause no nuisance or inconvenience to the general public. However, I am aware that, in spite of the existing regulatory arrangements, problems with unacceptable odour relating to the storage and spreading of sewage sludge still occur....
Mr John Garrett: ..., and, although my hon. Friend made a useful intervention, I will not respond to it. Britain has some of the worst polluted beaches in the world and is responsible for over 90 per cent. of the sewage present in the North sea, due to direct dumping of untreated sewage and the practice of dumping extracted sewage sludge at sea. When asked by the EEC to list its bathing beaches, Britain came...
Michelle Thomson: My constituents in Falkirk East are anxious for the report to be published. The spreading of sewage sludge was raised as a concern with my predecessor, Angus MacDonald, and has now been raised with me. The smell and inconvenience generate multiple complaints, but it is the potential risk to human health that is most concerning. Can the minister confirm whether the Scottish Government has...
Therese Coffey: Pollution caused by sewage is mainly addressed through the implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations which set standards for the collection and treatment of sewage. Since privatisation, around £25 billion has been invested to reduce pollution from sewage, covering improvements in sewage treatment and reducing sewer overflows. In England, between 2015 and 2020, water...
Mr Hugo Summerson: We have heard the hon. Gentleman speak at some length about the problems caused by the dumping of sewage sludge in the North sea. The essence of politics is that one not only criticises, but comes up with a solution to the problem. The hon. Gentleman has said that 3·5 million tonnes of sewage sludge are dumped in the North sea—that is an awful lot of sewage sludge—so what would he do...
Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Defra's Costs and Benefits of the Thames Tunnel, published in November 2011, noted that there would be benefits arising from the energy generated from extra volumes of sewage sludge captured at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works (otherwise lost through sewer overflows) once the proposed Thames Tunnel is completed, but did not attach a monetary value to these benefits. Thames Water is planning to...
Mrs. Slater: Is the Minister aware that the Gas Board has been negotiating with the sewerage committee about the taking of additional gas liquor by the sewage works, but that, at the present time, as a result of what was mentioned in my previous Question, the Hanley sewage works is unable to take any more gas liquor without serious damage to the plant? Is he further aware that, at present,...
Lord Benyon: As the noble Duke knows, the Environment Act places several duties on government and water companies to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows. The Government have now launched the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history. Our new strict targets will see the toughest crackdown on sewage spills and will require water companies to...
Simon Lightwood: Last month, Labour Councillor Jack Hemingway proposed a successful motion to Wakefield Council calling for urgent action on sewage discharges in our rivers and lakes. He spoke about the River Calder in my constituency, where, on a three-mile stretch from Horbury Bridge to the M1, there have been over 400 sewage and waste water discharges, pouring out the equivalent of 100 whole days a year....
Rebecca Pow: Since 2001, all large Welsh Water sewage treatment works in the English part of the Wye catchment have had specific treatment technology in place to reduce the level of phosphorus discharged to the receiving water. Regular discussions take place between Welsh Water and the Environment Agency on the issue of phosphorus, and additional work is planned as part of this water industry investment...
James Cartlidge: ...across the majority of the Defence Estate sites in Great Britain are provided by five service providers. Those service providers have confirmed to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that a total of 102 sewage leaks have been recorded from sewage treatment facilities on the Defence Estate within the last 12 months. The sewage leaks occurred at four sites: Culdrose, RAF Henlow, Lyneham, and...
Rebecca Pow: ...bathing waters, including Fleetwood, 20 times between May and September. Samples are tested for elevated levels of bacteria (E. Coli) which would indicate a presence of organic pollution such as sewage. Fleetwood wastewater treatment works (WwTW) serves towns on the Fylde Coast, Lancashire, including Fleetwood. On 11 June 2023 there was a failure of a discharge pipe at Fleetwood WwTW...
Rebecca Pow: As part of its planning the Environment Agency (EA) has assessed the impact of sewage discharges on the water environment which has informed the development of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) for the period 2020 to 2025. This programme of work is now being implemented by the water companies at a cost of over £4 billion with many of the improvements targeted at...
