What’s happening in the world of game-fishing

BIG WIN FOR WILDFISH

The UK Government and its regulators broke the law by allowing water companies to discharge sewage into rivers for years, according to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

Its ruling follows an initial complaint by the conservation charity Wildfish in 2021. According to laws set out in 1994, wastewater may be released into rivers on rare occasions when a sewer is at risk of being overwhelmed and homes are at risk of flooding, but the permit system is lax and has been routinely abused by water companies, who have discharged sewage when river levels were manageable.

Their actions have been tolerated by the water company regulator Ofwat, the Environment Agency (EA) and the UK Government.

Wildfish says the OEP’s formal Decision Notice means the EA has “a clear legal duty” to alter its permits immediately, restricting them to their intended purpose – if “works can be carried out, which would not require excessive costs”.

Guy Linley-Adams, in-house solicitor for WildFish, said: “The OEP has achieved a great deal here and we are very grateful. What its announcement has clarified is that much of the storm sewage pollution that is plaguing English rivers would not be occurring had Government and regulators done their jobs properly.”