23/07/08
The Environment Agency's annual report on the businesses it regulates highlights the role regulation has played in improving overall environmental performance but indicates that in future it will focus on areas where it will have most benefit.
Continued improvement
The report shows that in 2007 water companies in England and Wales made progressive improvements in chemical discharges into the environment and pollution incident reduction.
Water UK is pleased that the sector has continued to contribute to national environmental improvement over the 10 year period of Spotlight reporting:
• Pollution incidents and total fines down
• Regulation is working
• Next steps: Better Regulation with more focus on outcome (but Water UK calls for more action and efforts to tackle diffuse pollution).
Overall environmental performance
The report helpfully recognises that the water sector has "a large number of consented discharges and has a different set of issues to deal with to other sectors".
The number of serious pollution incidents for which water companies were responsible fell during 2007. Every incident is regretted, fully investigated and reported at board level. Remedial action is always taken.
The sector's performance should be seen in the context of the scale of its business - virtually universal residential and commercial coverage; 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; 8,000 sewage treatment works; 300,000km of sewers; little control over their use. This is especially important if it is to be compared with other sectors.
Is regulation working?
Water companies and their customers have invested heavily over the 10-year period in delivering environmental regulations. This has made a major contribution to the improved water environment. However more regulation of the same type will not be good enough.
Next Steps
With diffuse pollution now recognised as a major risk to the environment and in line with the EA’s risk-based approach to regulation, there must in future be more focus on this source of damage.
Water companies are keen to see increased EA action on control of polluting substances at their true source, including phosphorus, nitrates, and priority hazardous substances such as mercury and cadmium as noted in the Spotlight report. Use of end-of-pipe treatment can no longer be seen as automatically the best solution for in many cases it entails higher cost, higher energy use and higher greenhouse gas emissions.
The water sector looks forward to collaborating with the EA on its plans to develop and introduce: its Environment Permitting Programme for water quality discharges; Operator Self Monitoring; and Operator Pollution Risk Appraisal in true reflection of its better regulation principles.
Ends
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