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The Environment Agency is stepping up its investigation into sewage treatment works after its initial 18-month assessment indicated “widespread and serious” environmental breaches.
The probe, launched in November 2021, is the Environment Agency’s largest ever criminal investigation.
It focuses on potential breaches of environmental permit conditions at wastewater treatment works by all water and sewerage companies. In total, the probe is concentrating on more than 2,200 sites that discharge into English waters.
In its first update on the investigation since November 2022, the Environmental Agency has confirmed that it is moving to the next phase which will include visits by investigators to sites where offending is suspected to have occurred.
The Agency’s update adds: “Since the investigation was launched, we have been working through thousands of documents relating to water company processes and actions at thousands of wastewater treatment works. Working through these documents has been a huge undertaking.
“Each document can contain large amounts of data which help give us a fuller picture of whether permit breaches have occurred or not.”
In total, the Environment Agency has analysed over two billion pieces of data “to build a comprehensive understanding of the scale of potential offending”.
The update adds: “Our initial assessment indicates that there may have been widespread and serious non-compliance of environmental permit conditions by all companies. We take the implications of this extremely seriously and are committed to understanding the scale and impact of any alleged offending.”
The Environment Agency adds that it “will consider all of the options available to us under our Enforcement and Sanctions policy” if evidence of rule-breaking is found.
Water and sewerage companies have recently estimated that more than £108 billion will need to be spent on drainage upgrades and wastewater management by 2050. The figures are revealed within the final Drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs), published this month by English companies.
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