Conservationists seek judicial review of UK sewage discharge plan
The UK government’s plan to cut millions of hours of raw sewage discharges by water companies each year is facing a judicial review on the grounds that it is unlawful.
The conservationist charity WildFish is calling for the storm overflow reduction strategy, published on Friday, to be withdrawn immediately.
It argues the plan will allow storm overflows to continue dumping raw sewage for the next 28 years. In high-priority areas, the strategy will allow discharges to cause adverse ecological impacts for the next 13 years.
“WildFish lawyers have concluded that Defra’s [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] much-vaunted storm overflow discharge reduction plan is unlawful on many counts,” said Nick Measham, the chief executive of the charity.
“The plan allows or otherwise encourages the continuation of breaches of existing environmental laws by the water companies, by Ofwat and by the secretary of state himself, for many years to come, in some cases until 2050.”
Measham said the plan showed the government had no real appetite to deal robustly with the appalling sewage pollution of English rivers caused by water companies.
The government strategy was criticised by a number of organisations and members of the public, when it went out to consultation for being too weak with targets too far in the future.
The Rivers Trust said it was appalled that the government had not taken into account the thousands of responses to the draft consultation which were calling for much more ambitious targets.
Christine Colvin, an advocacy and engagement director of the Rivers Trust, said: “The requirement for this plan in the Environment Act gave government a great opportunity to right the wrongs on weak regulation and get on the front
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