iNews: ‘Toothless’ sewage watchdog fails to visit 90% of toxic water spills in England
“The Environment Agency failed to visit 90 per cent of toxic water spills last year, including more than 60 per cent of the most serious incidents. There has been a major drop off in in-person inspections of water pollution incidents since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Environment Agency failing to attend most cases.
Freedom of Information data obtained by the charity WildFish, and shared with i, shows there has been a significant drop off in in-person inspections of water pollution since the Covid-19 pandemic, despite an increase in the total number of incidents being investigated by the watchdog.
Inspectors were rarely turning up in person to investigate incidents such as sewage discharges and pollution run-off from farms and motorways into England’s waterways.”
