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Campaigners call for end to water privatisation as Thames Water fined over sewage

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-call-end-water-privatisation-thames-water-fined-over-sewage

 A tanker from Thames Water, August 2022

CAMPAIGNERS called for an end to water privatisation as Thames Water was today fined a record £122.7 million for breaking rules over sewage treatment and paying out dividends.

An investigation into Britain’s biggest water supplier revealed “a series of failures by the company to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure,” said water regulator Ofwat.

Nearly £170m of dividend payments by Thames in October 2023 and March 2024 were not justified in “a clear-cut case where Thames Water has let down its customers and failed to protect the environment,” said Ofwat chief executive David Black.

We Own It founder and director Cat Hobbs said: “None of this changes the underlying problem — as long as water is privatised, we will continue to be ripped off, and rivers will continue to be polluted for profit.”

River Action chief James Wallace added that “nothing will change unless the privatisation of Thames Water stops.” He urged Environment Secretary Steve Reed to “put this failing company into special administration and restructure its ownership and governance so it can be owned by and operated for public benefit.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-call-end-water-privatisation-thames-water-fined-over-sewage

Continue ReadingCampaigners call for end to water privatisation as Thames Water fined over sewage

Sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

The snow-covered peak of Beinn Eighe and the mountains of Torridon are reflected in Loch Droma near Ullapool, Wester Ross, December 3, 2023

RAW sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs, and seas every 90 seconds last year, according to a new report by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

While Scottish Water recorded 23,498 sewage discharges lasting a total of 208,377 hours in 2024, this accounts for only 6.7 per cent of the company’s total network, the research found.

Just 1,116 of Scottish Water’s 4,080 “combined sewage overflows” — where sewage is released directly into waterways or the sea — appear on its real-time sewage discharge map.

That 73 per cent data gap means SAS’s Safer Seas and Rivers Service providing sewage alerts across Britain is forced to leave Scotland blank, but their latest report estimates the public are being put at risk with as many as 364,629 effectively unreported discharges a year — amounting one every 90 seconds.

SAS chief executive Giles Bristow slammed “Scottish Water’s reckless approach to monitoring and public safety.”

He said: “Scotland’s coastline, lochs and rivers are some of the most stunning on the planet, with surfers, swimmers and paddle boarders wanting to make the most of these beautiful blue spaces.

“But these waters are far from pristine.

“With no legal requirement to issue sewage alerts in Scotland, water users have no idea whether or not it’s safe to enter the water.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

Continue ReadingSewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

Look at Labour’s acts of environmental vandalism and ask: did I vote for this?

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I am only able to quote small sections of this copyrighted article by George Monbiot published in the Guardian. The whole article is here.

A plane comes into land at Heathrow airport, London. Photograph: Avpics/Alamy

Our rivers, our wildlife, the air we breathe: the government is sacrificing all to the insatiable god of GDP – and mocking our objections

I can scarcely believe I’m writing this, but it’s hard to dodge the conclusion. After 14 years of environmental vandalism, it might have seemed impossible for Labour to offer anything but improvement. But on green issues, this government is worse than the Tories.

The last prime minister to insist that growth should override every other consideration, and to fling insults at anyone who disagreed, was Liz Truss. She called those of us seeking to defend the living world an “anti-growth coalition”, “voices of decline” and “enemies of enterprise” who “don’t understand aspiration”.

Now Keir Starmer has picked up her theme and run with it. Those who challenge government policies that might promote GDP growth, however destructive and irrational, such as the planned expansion of Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Doncaster Sheffield airports, are “time-wasting nimbys”, “zealots” and “blockers”, engaged in “self-righteous virtue-signalling”.

After all, these are the kind of people who might send “congratulations to the climate campaigners” whose legal challenge stopped plans to build a third Heathrow runway at the court of appeal. Or who insist that Heathrow expansion should be blocked because “there is no more important challenge than the climate emergency”. Oh, hang on, that was Starmer, writing in 2020. You know, the one you voted for, not the new model, channelling the worst Tory prime minister of modern times.

Now his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, insists that growth “trumps other things”, including the government’s environmental commitments. The verb is unfortunate. The government’s new rhetoric is horribly reminiscent of the convicted felon: monomania, slogans and insults take the place of nuanced and complex policy.

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I am only able to quote small sections of this copyrighted article by George Monbiot published in the Guardian. The whole article is here.

Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue ReadingLook at Labour’s acts of environmental vandalism and ask: did I vote for this?

Bee-killing pesticide widespread in England’s rivers, analysis finds

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bee-killing-pesticide-widespread-englands-rivers-analysis-finds Many articles from the Morning Star today

A bee collecting pollen in the city of Bristol

CHEMICALS highly harmful to wildlife and human health are widespread in England’s rivers, research published today has found.

Neonicotinoid pesticides, which are lethal for bees, have been found in 85 per cent of tested rivers, according to analysis by the Rivers Trust and Wildlife & Countryside Link.

The groups looked at Environment Agency data on rivers tested between 2023 to 2024.

All five of the neonicotinoids analysed for were detected at sites on the River Waveney and River Wensum in the east Midlands, but only 27 sites were tested, compared with 43 in 2020-22, signalling strained resources at the environmental regulator.

According to experts at the University of Sussex, a single teaspoon of the pesticide is enough to kill 1.25 billion bees.

Neonicotinoid pesticides have already been restricted in Britain, but have been granted “emergency” authorisations every year since 2021.

During its election campaign, Labour pledged to fully ban the chemicals, which have already been prohibited in the EU.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bee-killing-pesticide-widespread-englands-rivers-analysis-finds Many articles from the Morning Star today

Continue ReadingBee-killing pesticide widespread in England’s rivers, analysis finds

4m hours of raw sewage discharges in England in 2023, data expected to show

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/26/4m-hours-of-raw-sewage-discharges-in-england-last-year-figures-expected-to-show

Raw sewage discharges are allowed to be released from storm overflows on the network only in exceptional circumstances, such as very heavy rain. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Exclusive: Environment Agency figures due out on Wednesday to reveal 129% increase in total discharges on previous 12 months

More than 4m hours of raw sewage discharges poured into rivers and seas last year, a 129% increase on the previous 12 months, new figures are expected to reveal on Wednesday.

Total discharges from the 14,000 storm overflows owned by English water companies that release untreated sewage into rivers and coastal waters increased by 59% to 477,972, making 2023 the worst year for sewage spills, according to an early estimate of the Environment Agency figures seen by the Guardian.

Senior industry sources were preparing for the government to turn its guns on water companies after the record year of discharges. The Environment Agency said it was setting up a whistleblowing hotline for people who work in the industry to report any activity that concerns them.

The heavy rainfall over the autumn and winter is likely to be blamed by the industry for the huge rise. Storm overflows are supposed to be used only in extreme weather but for many years they have been used routinely, discharging raw sewage even on dry days in some cases. The academic Peter Hammond has shown how water companies are routinely using storm overflow discharges in their water management.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/26/4m-hours-of-raw-sewage-discharges-in-england-last-year-figures-expected-to-show

Continue Reading4m hours of raw sewage discharges in England in 2023, data expected to show