Today the Environment Agency announces that this financial year water companies have paid £8.5 million in enforcement undertakings, which will be reinvested directly into restoring the rivers, lakes, and seas which were polluted or damaged.
Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, says:
“Penalties are still not big enough to make English waters safe. Enforcement action is headed in the right direction, but it'll need to be much faster and tougher to make sure companies can't simply price in the cost to "pay while you pollute" without changing their business practices. Penalties must be much bigger and every penny must be ringfenced for nature recovery. Alongside these voluntary undertakings, Government should dedicate the much bigger sums paid in fines – which currently disappear into Treasury coffers – to reducing pollution and restoring nature.
“People want to swim without getting sick, and communities are calling out for clean rivers. The Water Reform Bill expected in the King's Speech is a chance to ensure that any companies that don't act in the public interest face real consequences, to make sure that the polluters pay, and river habitats are brought back to life.”
Read more now in our report, Clean Water Now.
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