,
Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, commenting on the
BBC investigation that suggests three major water companies
illegally discharged sewage hundreds of times on dry days, said:
“The Conservatives have allowed our precious waterways to be
flooded with sewage, damaging the environment and our local
tourism.
“This scandal is their fault. They cut back enforcement and
monitoring against water companies releasing this filth, and are
now failing to prosecute them when they are blatantly breaking
the law.
“There must be an immediate investigation into both the breach of
the licence and the environmental damage caused. Only then can we
expose this illegal pollution and bring those responsible to
justice.
“In government, Labour will introduce automatic fines to punish
law-breaking companies, make water bosses responsible for their
negligence and bring in strict mandatory monitoring of outlets to
make sure this never happens again.
“There can be no more damning metaphor for 13 years of Tory
failure than the stinking, toxic sewage now polluting our rivers
and lapping onto our beaches.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Setting a legal requirement for the monitoring of all
sewage outlets and penalties for failures in adhering to
monitoring requirements.
- Imposing automatic fines for sewage dumping.
- Implementing a legally binding target to reduce sewage
dumping events.
- A requirement for the Secretary of State to publish a
strategy for the reduction of sewage discharges and regular
economic impact assessments.
