Stop water companies dumping sewage in our rivers and coastal waters
Stop water companies dumping sewage in our rivers and coastal waters
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Latest: April 28, 2023
High Court hearing dates confirmed!
We will be challenging the Government over its inadequate plan to tackle the huge amounts of raw sewage being poured into England’s rivers and seas at a hearing from 4 to 6 July 2023.
We’v…
Read moreA deluge of untreated sewage is being dumped by water companies into our rivers and along our coastlines, but the Government is failing to act.
Around 14,500 storm overflows are in operation across England to keep sewers from becoming overwhelmed. But as our Victorian-era sewers are pushed to their capacity, sewage is increasingly being discharged by water companies into our rivers coastal waters and other waterways.
This should only happen in an emergency, but it is becoming a routine practice for water companies. Last year alone, there were a whopping 372,533 sewage spills, over a period of 2.7 million hours.
This is one of the biggest environmental scandals of our times. But the Government is failing to put a stop to it.
We need urgent action to protect our precious and biodiverse ecosystems and to safeguard everyone’s right to safely enjoy our beaches and waterways for generations to come.
In August, the Government published its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. But this gives water company bosses until 2050 to improve all of England’s storm overflows to eliminate or reduce mass-scale sewage discharges.
Good Law Project believes that the Government’s lack of urgency is not only dangerous, it is also unlawful on a number of grounds.
This is why we are joining forces with Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer and campaigner, Hugo Tagholm, to compel the Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan to impose much tighter deadlines on water companies to clean up their act. We are also in discussions with other potential claimants, who may be added to the claim later.
It is also crucial that the Government and water companies fix the problem of sewage dumping with solutions that work in harmony with our natural environment.
Good Law Project recently forced the Government to go back to the drawing board on their threadbare Net Zero strategy.
We hope that we can do the same with this case, but we need your help. If you are able to, please consider donating to our fight for our rivers, waterways and beaches.
You can read our Pre-Action Protocol letter to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, here.
Details
Good Law Project has instructed Good Law Practice, Marc Willers KC of Garden Court Chambers and Peter Lockley of 11KBW in this case.
As well as paying our legal fees, ten percent of the sums raised will go to Good Law Project so that we can continue to use the law for a better world. It is our policy to only raise sums that we reasonably anticipate could be spent on this litigation. If for some reason we don’t spend all the money raised on this case, for instance if the Government backs down or we win, the donations will go towards supporting other litigation we bring.
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April 28, 2023
High Court hearing dates confirmed!
We will be challenging the Government over its inadequate plan to tackle the huge amounts of raw sewage being poured into England’s rivers and seas at a hearing from 4 to 6 July 2023.
We’ve brought this case with the Marine Conservation Society, Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm, to compel this Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan and make it fit for purpose.
A deluge of sewage is being discharged by water companies into our rivers and shores through a network of 14,500 storm overflows dotted across the country. But the Government’s current plan gives water companies up until 2050 to improve their storm overflows and put a stop to industrial-scale sewage dumping.
We’re also concerned that the plan excludes a significant number of coastal waters from protection and fails to include around 600 storm overflows. This means that this shocking practice could still continue beyond 2050 under the Government’s current plan.
We believe that giving the green light to this environmental vandalism for decades to come is not just unconscionable – it’s also unlawful on a number of grounds.
There is clearly no more time to waste. The latest data from the Environment Agency has revealed that, last year alone, water companies in England discharged untreated sewage through storm overflows over 300,000 times for a total of 1.7 million hours.
We can’t allow our rivers, waterways and seas and the diverse ecosystems that they support to continue to be poisoned by pollution. And we can’t stand by as swimmers get sick, our coastal communities suffer and our natural environment is irreparably damaged for us and for future generations.
Our success in this case could help to turn the tide on the sewage scandal. We are also looking to revive an ancient English legal principle – the Public Trust Doctrine – to create new pathways for campaigners to hold the Government to account when it comes to environmental protection.
The hearing in July is our chance to protect and safeguard our rivers and coastal waters for us all and for the generations to come.
Good Law Project
Feb. 14, 2023
We have a High Court hearing!
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve been given a hearing in the High Court in our legal challenge to force the Government to take much tougher action to stop water companies from dumping raw sewage into our coastal waters.
We believe this could be one of the UK’s most significant environmental law cases in recent history. Our legal challenge revives an old common law legal doctrine – the Public Trust Doctrine – to force Government to take the protection of our rivers and seas seriously.
We’ve brought this case with Marine Conservation Society, Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm to compel the Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharges Reduction Plan and make it fit for purpose.
A deluge of sewage is being discharged by water companies into our rivers and shores through a network of 14,500 storm overflows dotted across the country. But the Government’s current plan gives water companies until 2050 to improve their storm overflows and put a stop to industrial-scale sewage dumping. And the plan all but excludes coastal waters from protection.
We believe that giving the green light to this environmental vandalism for decades to come is not just unconscionable – it’s also unlawful.
The Public Trust Doctrine (PTD) has been recognised by the English Courts since at least 1299. It says that the state has a duty to safeguard vital natural resources and hold them in trust for the benefit of both current and future generations. It enshrines the right for people to fish, gather food and navigate our shared tidal waters.
Our challenge makes the case that the Public Trust Doctrine requires the Government to take positive steps to safeguard our coastal waters. Winning this case could set a landmark precedent which would enable campaigners to use this doctrine for legal challenges to compel the Government to protect our shared natural environment.
You can read the permission decision here. We are waiting for the High Court to confirm a hearing date.
Thank you for your support – we couldn’t do this without you.
Good Law Project
Nov. 25, 2022
Marine Conservation Society joins our legal action to stop sewage dumping
We are delighted that the Marine Conservation Society has now joined as a co-claimant on our legal case to protect our coastal waters from sewage dumping.
Marine Conservation Society is at the forefront of tackling the ocean emergency and standing up for coastal communities impacted by climate change and pollution.
Sewage spills from storm overflows are threatening human health, biodiverse marine life and the fishing industry. We believe that taking legal action now is vital to ensuring English seas are safeguarded for generations to come.
This is why Good Law Project is supporting Marine Conservation Society and co-claimants, Richard Haward's Oysters and surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm, as they take this case forward to compel the Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.
In its current form, the Government’s plan gives water companies until 2050 to take action on sewage discharges from storm overflows. But we believe that allowing this environmental vandalism to continue for decades to come is dangerous and unlawful.
The scope of the plan also fails to include the hundreds of coastal and estuarine storm overflows responsible for polluting our seas and shorelines.
The claim has now been filed and the next step is to take this issue to the courts to compel the Government to impose much tougher deadlines on water companies and expand its plan to specifically address sewage spillages into coastal waters.
You can read our Statement of Facts and Grounds in full here.
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