Water company bosses should face jail for the worst pollution incidents, the Environment Agency has said as it detailed the sector’s “shocking” performance in 2021. However, Northumbrian Water is one of the best performers and hangs onto a top four-star rating.
The agency’s annual environmental performance report for water companies said it was the “worst we have seen for years”, as serious pollution incidents increased to 62 in 2021, the highest total since 2013. There were eight of the very worst, category one, incidents, compared to three in 2020.
Northumbrian Water, along with Severn Trent Water and United Utilities, maintained a four-star rating. But, most other companies did much worse last year than in 2020, driven both by poorer performance and higher expectations.
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While total pollution incidents were down slightly to 1,883, there has not been any trend towards improvement since 2015, the Environment Agency report warned, while compliance with permits to discharge treated wastewater declined compared to 2020. Four companies – Anglian, Thames, Wessex and Yorkshire Water – were rated only two stars, which means they require significant improvement.
Two others – Southern and South West Water – fell to one star, the bottom rating, with their performance described as “terrible across the board” by Environment Agency chairwoman Emma Howard Boyd. Ms Howard Boyd said: “It’s appalling that water companies’ performance on pollution has hit a new low.
“Water quality won’t improve until water companies get a grip on their operational performance. For years people have seen executives and investors handsomely rewarded while the environment pays the price.”
She added: “Company directors let this happen. We plan to make it too painful for them to continue like this. The amount a company can be fined for environmental crimes is unlimited but fines currently handed down by the courts often amount to less than a chief executive’s salary. We need courts to impose much higher fines. Investors should no longer see England’s water monopolies as a one-way bet.”
The agency is also calling for prison sentences for chief executives and board members whose companies are responsible for the worst spills, and for company directors to be struck off, so they cannot move on in their careers, after illegal environmental damage. A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) said: “This report shows that water companies are ignoring their legal responsibilities.
“Water company chiefs cannot continue to make huge profits whilst polluting our waters. We will not tolerate this behaviour and we will take robust action if we don’t see urgent improvements.”
Mike Keil, senior director at the Consumer Council for Water, said: “This report marks a new low for the environmental performance of the water industry and casts serious doubt over whether some water and sewerage companies can be trusted to look after the water environment. It’s also an insult to customers who have told us they want to see companies do more to improve rivers and the habitats that wildlife depend on.”
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