England's sewage scandal took place because successive governments failed to enforce the law for three decades, investigation reveals
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England's sewage scandal took place because successive governments failed to enforce the law for three decades, an investigation has found. For years water companies have claimed it was legally acceptable to allow untreated human waste to pour into rivers and seas.
![[In this aerial view, discharge is seen flowing into the River Thames at Crossness sewage treatment works on March 27, 2024 in London (file image)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/00/93215445-0-image-a-66_1734395058600.jpg)
But an investigation by watchdog the Office for Environmental Protection (OPE) has found that the flow of sewage poisoning our waters could have been stopped. In a landmark ruling, the OPE said that the government and regulators failed to enforce a 1994 law- the Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulations - which would have stopped water companies from polluting.
While regulations allow sewage to flow into rivers in ‘exceptional’ circumstances such as heavy rainfall, official figures show that sewage is routinely spilled into waterways. The ruling found that Defra failed to take proper account of environmental law, drafted guidance to water companies which ‘did not reflect the true legal extent’ of its duties to dispose of sewage, and ‘misunderstanding its legal duty under environmental law to make enforcement orders', although Defra became aware of its duty in 2020, once the UK left the European Union.
Ofwat failed to enforce the law, and Environment Agency officials issued permits that allowed sewage overflows which did not take into account the law. Helen Venn, the OEP’s chief regulatory officer, said: ‘The core issue identified in our investigation is the circumstances in which the regulatory system allows untreated sewage discharges to take place.
