Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Environment Agency staff say Govt funding cuts mean the regulator is no longer a deterrent to polluters.

An inevitable consequence of a Govt which prioritises free-market ideology & deregulation over the environment, is that our rivers are now full of shit.

#BrexitLies

Risking their livelihoods, three officers at the Environment Agency have blown the whistle on how they are increasingly unable to hold polluters to account or improve the environment as a result of the body’s policies.

theguardian.com/environment/20…

The officers wish to remain anonymous because the Environment Agency’s chief executive, Sir James Bevan, has “been very clear that he will sack anybody that is seen to be openly criticising the agency”, one officer said.

Here's James Bevan had to say in a speech called 'What is the future for water?' given at the Water Industry Forum Annual Dinner in Birmingham on 8 May 2019.

waterindustryforum.com/whatsnew/what-…

"A few years ago the Environment Agency set a target that the numbers of serious pollution incidents caused by the water companies should trend down to zero by 2020. But over the last five years performance has plateaued in the 50 to 60 range."

Really?

"When a water company causes a serious pollution incident, typically by allowing raw sewage to escape into a watercourse, the result is always bad for the environment: it can & does kill thousands of fish, animals & plants, damage ecosystems & ruin water quality for a long time."

"Serious pollution incidents are bad for the industry as a whole because they tarnish the reputation of the industry as a whole. And when that happens people ask legitimate questions about whether the current economic model for water drives the right behaviour by the companies."

"The bottom line is this. There is only one acceptable level for pollution incidents: zero. The water companies, I suggest, have just as much interest as the Environment Agency & the public in getting to that target sooner rather than later."

Water companies maximise profit.

"The water companies take their regulatory responsibilities seriously. They work professionally & well with the Environment Agency, Ofwat & the DWI."

Really?

In 2021, every single water & sewerage company in England missed its environmental targets

channel4.com/news/every-wat…

Feargal Sharkey: “Every river in the country is polluted. An awful lot of that is directly as a result of sewage from the water industry and, as much as this report is damning for the water industry, it is an equally damning end of term report for regulators and government.”

In 2020, James Bevan undertook the controversial decision to weaken environmental standards of rivers as part of post-Brexit proposals which would amend the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD).

theguardian.com/environment/20…

Just 14% of English rivers have been assessed under the directive as good. The directive sees water quality as an area that can have the most significant impact on the environment & campaigners say Bevan's proposal would present a false view of water quality.

The Environment Agency has a large budget but the officers say it is not being directed towards protecting or improving the environment: Govt funding for the agency’s environmental protection work has slumped from about £170m in 09-10 to a low of £76m in 19-20, & £94m last year.

Because of the Government's obsession with free-market ideology, work that does not generate any income for the agency, such as attending pollution incidents, has been 'deprioritised', say the officers.

The agency will no longer respond to lower-impact pollution incidents.

One EA officer said there had been a “drive to make the agency almost entirely self-sufficient, so if you can’t charge for something it gets a lower priority, which is why a lot of the officer roles have been cut – those that go out to pollution events & inspect works…

...it’s been cut & cut & cut & left us where we are at the moment, which is with a very limited resource on that side.”

Bevan has signalled that he would like industry to eventually pay the full cost of its regulation, alongside introducing tougher punishments for polluters.

A second EA officer said increases in charges & other agency income filled the gap left by dwindling government grants but the money did not find its way to frontline work. Instead it was directed to middle management.

Issuing permits for a potentially polluting activity, such as discharging effluent into a river, brings money into the agency, but when making a decision “we’re told, largely through the permitting process, to give business the benefit of the doubt, rather than the environment."

“Unless you can find a 100% solid reason not to grant something, you will grant it. The precautionary principle, which is what a lot of these decisions should be based on, is not prevalent … we don’t really get to use it.”

"Should a polluter be caught, any tools that were at [its] disposal to take action have been systematically removed … Officers are actively encouraged not to take enforcement action, and asked to find another solution. We are no longer a deterrent to polluters.”

"Those who adhere to the legislation are paying significant sums, whilst those that chose to ignore the legislation escape any charge or meaningful punishment".

Does this sound familiar5 to anyone?

#DowningStreetParties

Another EA officer said the reduction in enforcement activity would “embolden people to break the law because they know that there’s not really a strong police force out there watching over them & able to take any form of significant action against them”.

The overall feeling is that areas such as water quality are “no longer a priority & the environment in most cases is expendable. There appears to be a direction aimed at working alongside water companies, industry & agriculture, rather than regulating them."

“The EA is as far removed from the ‘polluter pays’ principle as it has ever been, & what is most concerning is that this appears to be by design."

"The majority of staff joined the EA because of a vocation for environmental protection, and their morale is at rock bottom."

A key problem is that water company activities are controlled by the Water Industry Act of 1991 but its provisions for dealing with environmental problems such as the discharge of sewage are outdated.

theguardian.com/environment/20…

We need a Rivers Act, which would involve introducing a series of measures for protecting England’s waterways, including toughening regulations over the use of chemicals such as pesticides & halting bodies such as highway agencies from discharging untreated waste into rivers.

The Govt's grotesque disregard for nature means 41% of UK wildlife is in decline - 15% threatened with extinction. “The water environment is central to much of that biodiversity but most funding is heavily focused on water quality rather than habitat protection & restoration.”🙏