Rivers of Sh*t: partially-cleaned and harmful crap is going directly into our rivers. The former head of bankrupt corporation Carillion, now in charge of the Environment Agency, wants to go easy on the companies doing it. Why is that, do you think?
Read this, and we’ll have a word about it down below:
The Environment Agency should not be issuing penalties of £250 million to water companies who dump sewage, its chairman has said.
Speaking to Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alan Lovell said penalties of £10-20 million would be more appropriate, and stressed there was a difference between an EA penalty and a court fine.
Last month, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey was criticised for reportedly backing down on plans to increase penalties to £250 million.
According to Feargal Sharkey (yes, that Feargal Sharkey): “Before becoming chairman of the EA Alan Lovell was a NED [Non-Executive Director] at Carillion, largest ever corporate bankruptcy in British history leaving £7 billion in debts.
Considering that, ask yourself: why would he say what he did about penalties for privatised water companies?
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While the people of the UK point out that raw sewage is being pumped into our waterways, the UK has the poorest economy of all G7 countries, Brexit is a disaster, supermarket shelves are empty, people can’t pay their energy bills, the NHS is in crisis and everyone is on strike…
… all Rishi Sunak and his gang can say is, “Stop the boats.”
Pathetic. Miserable. Unacceptable.
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Rivers of Sh*t: Boris Johnson couldn’t be bothered to think about the details of his Brexit, and now the UK is suffering shortages of materials including those used to clean sewage. So partially-cleaned and harmful crap is going directly into our rivers.
Thursday, February 23 was a bad day for Environment Secretary Therese Coffey.
Not only did she suggest that we all eat turnips as a replacement for vegetables (and tomatoes) that are currently running short in supermarkets – causing a shortage of turnips as well, but she tried to pass the stink over the pumping of sewage into the UK’s waterways off as Labour’s fault:
Jim McMahon – On a scale of 1 to 10… how does she rate her own government's record on ending the Tory sewage scandal?
Therese Coffey – It was the Labour government that failed to deal with the urban wastewater issues..
It’s possible that everything Coffey said about Labour was true – that party, in office, should have re-nationalised the water companies when it had the chance – but didn’t.
But the current issue, of raw sewage being pumped into rivers and the sea, is entirely of the current Tory government’s creation.
Coffey knows that – or should. It is pathetic that she should try to pull the wool over our eyes in such a blatant manner.
On a related matter:
Some of the highest PFAS concentrations ever recorded in environmental samples… these being present in our UK waters is of huge concern. @Feargal_Sharkey@friends_earth
Toxic substances from chemicals firm site found polluting protected river https://t.co/pV0Pm4n9bI
PFAS stands for perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, a family of thousands of human-made substances known as “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent and will not break down in the environment for thousands of years.
I suppose Coffey would blame this spread of toxic chemicals into a protected river, in 2023, on the Labour government of 1997-2010 as well?
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Environment Secretary Therese Coffey has refused to meet with people affected by the raw sewage the government is allowing to be pumped into the UK’s waterways and coastal waters.
She says she doesn’t need to; she’s aware of the situation because she represents a coastal constituency.
But what did other members of the Commons Environment committee think of her comments?
Here’s my audio-visual interpretation of how it might have gone…
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Run-off: according to a Welsh Water representative, discharges into our rivers and the sea during storms are not nearly as dangerous as we’ve been led to believe.
Welsh Water have been having a conference about pollution at a venue here in Mid Wales, and one of that organisation’s representatives told me a very interesting snippet of information (in a pub, afterwards).
You’ll be aware that the Tory government passed a motion last year that allows water firms to discharge raw sewage into our waterways.
Well, this man said that while sewerage water is indeed discharged into the rivers during storms, it is always diluted to a point at which it is not considered harmful, under passes handed out by the Environment Agency.
And he suggested that this was validated when the Ironman Challenge tested the water at Tenby/Saundersfoot and said it was the cleanest they had found.
Whether this was true or not is hard for me to judge, though, because the man telling me all this turned out to be extremely gay and was trying (we think) to seduce me (even though I’m extremely not-gay). No, he didn’t get anywhere! In classic journalistic tradition, I made my excuses and left.
I checked the Ironman website and Saundersfoot didn’t seem to have anyone swimming through it; the bike ride went through there.
And even if it is clean, this is just one water company. What about all the others?
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Sally-Ann Hart: covering her posterior during the sewage crisis?
Here’s another great analysis from Maximilien Robespierre – this time on the way Tories who were elected to Parliament in 2019 are trying to cover their rear ends after voting to allow water companies to pollute our rivers, seas and beaches:
So: she said she voted for an amendment to Labour’s motion, that demanded investment in the sewerage infrastructure that would end the discharge of raw sewage into the environment.
But the amendment was changed to remove a requirement for water companies (in England) to take every reasonable step to ensure untreated sewage is not released from storm overflows. Also removed was the requirement to show improvements in the sewerage systems.
So her claim that she voted to demand improvements seems to be untrue. But, like many of her fellows in the Tory 2019 Parliamentary intake, she’s trying to put people off voting to remove her from her seat by pretending to be on their side.
She says an “ambitious” plan will be unveiled on September 1, to clean up the system. Will it be as ambitious as the plan she has already supported – that allowed water companies to stink up our beaches with possibly disease-ridden crap?
This Writer agrees with Maximilien Robespierre: Ms Hart should have been challenged to take a swim in the water she voted to despoil – to prove she had defended it, or demonstrate conclusively that she had not.
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Tory Britain: “one of the most effluent nations in the world” as Dr Louise Raw put it when she tweeted this image.
An informative video clip from the Express? Will wonders never cease?
The big question is why nothing is being done about this.
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Rivers of Sh*t: the amount of harmful crap being pumped into our rivers and seas has multiplied by 2,553 per cent.
A friend on the social media asked how private water companies could have pumped raw sewage into our seas and rivers for more than nine million hours since 2016 when that’s the equivalent of 1,076 years.
The answer, in fact, is quite simple: each company has many outflows into the UK’s waterways, and they have been pumping away industrially.
The amount of raw sewage going into our rivers and seas has increased by 2,553 per cent over the last five years.
No wonder the information had to be dragged out of the Environment Agency by the Labour Party, via the Freedom of Information Act!
I’m reminded of the advertising campaign for the movie Jaws 2, containing what may be horror’s greatest tagline:
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”
Sadly, nobody has thought it was safe to go in the water since the government voted to allow the water companies to pump all their crap – literally – into UK waterways.
Who knew the threat wouldn’t come from a dangerous creature but from an industry that’s supposed to keep us safe?
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Rivers of Sh*t: Boris Johnson couldn’t be bothered to think about the details of his Brexit, and now the UK is suffering shortages of materials including those used to clean sewage. So partially-cleaned and harmful crap is going directly into our rivers – including faeces containing the polio virus, that could paralyse people who have not been vaccinated against it.
It’s true – a disease that we thought we had eradicated is back, due to Tory short-sightedness:
Polio is back in the UK. That's just another reason why privatised water companies should not be allowed to dump faeces in rivers.
Here‘s a government press release on what has happened:
The UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA), working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has found poliovirus in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.
As part of routine surveillance, it is normal for one to three ‘vaccine-like’ polioviruses to be detected each year in UK sewage samples but these have always been one-off findings that were not detected again. These previous detections occurred when an individual vaccinated overseas with the live oral polio vaccine (OPV) returned or travelled to the UK and briefly ‘shed’ traces of the vaccine-like poliovirus in their faeces.
Investigations are underway after several closely-related viruses were found in sewage samples taken between February and May. The virus has continued to evolve and is now classified as a ‘vaccine-derived’ poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2), which on rare occasions can cause serious illness, such as paralysis, in people who are not fully vaccinated.
The detection of a VDPV2 suggests it is likely there has been some spread between closely-linked individuals in North and East London and that they are now shedding the type 2 poliovirus strain in their faeces. The virus has only been detected in sewage samples and no associated cases of paralysis have been reported – but investigations will aim to establish if any community transmission is occurring.
The last case of wild polio contracted in the UK was confirmed in 1984. The UK was declared polio-free in 2003.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA said:
Vaccine-derived poliovirus is rare and the risk to the public overall is extremely low.
Vaccine-derived poliovirus has the potential to spread, particularly in communities where vaccine uptake is lower. On rare occasions it can cause paralysis in people who are not fully vaccinated so if you or your child are not up to date with your polio vaccinations it’s important you contact your GP to catch up or if unsure check your Red Book. Most of the UK population will be protected from vaccination in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may remain at risk.
We are urgently investigating to better understand the extent of this transmission and the NHS has been asked to swiftly report any suspected cases to the UKHSA, though no cases have been reported or confirmed so far.
Jane Clegg, Chief nurse for the NHS in London said:
The majority of Londoners are fully protected against Polio and won’t need to take any further action, but the NHS will begin reaching out to parents of children aged under 5 in London who are not up to date with their Polio vaccinations to invite them to get protected.
Meanwhile, parents can also check their child’s vaccination status in their Red Book and people should contact their GP surgery to book a vaccination, should they or their child not be fully up to date.
The UK is considered by the World Health Organization to be polio-free, with low-risk for polio transmission due to the high level of vaccine coverage across the population. However, vaccine coverage for childhood vaccines has decreased nationally and especially in parts of London over the past few years, so UKHSA is urging people to check they are up to date with their vaccines.
Wastewater surveillance is being expanded to assess the extent of transmission and identify local areas for targeted action. Healthcare professionals have been alerted to these findings so they can promptly investigate and report anyone presenting with symptoms that could be polio, such as paralysis.
So it’s in the sewage and, because some people have decided not to vaccinate their children (based on a falsehood, as I understand it), there’s a risk that someone may catch polio and be paralysed.
And there are concerns that it may spread – or may have spread already. Well, with untreated sewage going directly into the rivers, it’s entirely possible, isn’t it?
Another brilliant Tory idea to cope with the consequences of their brilliant Brexit causes trouble.
ADDITIONAL: This is worrying:
Another irony being that there are now plans to draw water from these rivers to compensate for the reservoir water shortage.
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Priti Patel – who, please remind yourself, is actually the UK’s Home Secretary and not a lunatic screaming from the social media sidelines – has released a video announcing her intentions for the New Year.
It’s ugly propaganda.
In part of it, she announces an intention to clamp down on eco-protest. This comes after the government that she represents pushed through a legal change that allows water companies to pump raw, untreated sewage containing human waste, condoms, tampons and who-knows-what-else into the UK’s waterways.
Her speech may be directed at people like Insulate Britain but you can be sure she’ll use new laws to attack anybody who dares to question the Tories’ right to fill the whole of the UK with their sh*t.
Here’s a quick video summary I did on TikTok (still testing what I can do):
(Apologies to those who want subtitles but I still haven’t worked them out yet.)
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