Anglers seek judicial review over watchdog's failure to stop sewage pollution of Yorkshire river

Not-for-profit water challenger, Fish Legal, has launched legal action against the Environment Agency and Government for failing to stop sewage pollution in Yorkshire trout river, the Costa Beck.

On behalf of Pickering Fishery Association, Fish Legal has applied to the High Court for judicial review of the EA’s latest River Basin Management Plan, which was approved by Defra in December. The challengers argued that the “old, demonstrably inadequate permits” held by Yorkshire Water for discharges from Pickering sewage treatment works should “by now have been properly reviewed and updated as part of that planning process and enforcement action taken regarding the numerous breaches”.

Fish Legal said the EA has not met its legal obligations to reverse the decline of Costa Beck which has been ‘poor’ for fish populations since 2009 and is targeted to achieve good ecological status by 2027.

Martin Smith, from the Pickering Fishery Association, said: “Costa Beck is a small, spring-fed stream with a delicate ecology that cannot possibly flourish with frequent raw sewage spills combined with other sources of pollution. The Environment Agency has had 20 years to develop a plan of action to help the river, yet even now its updated plan proposes little real action. This legal case will bring out into the open where it has all gone wrong.”

• In January, Fish Legal referred Severn Trent to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for refusing to disclose information about operations at its Worcester sewage treatment works. It asked the ICO to consider whether the company has acted lawfully in rejecting requests for details about sewage discharges from the works and its maintenance programme in 2022. Fish Legal reported: “Severn Trent Water is required to keep maintenance records to demonstrate compliance with its discharge consent and that they are operating the works in a manner that minimises the polluting effects into the river. Severn Trent has argued, however, that such records do not constitute environmental information.” Fish Legal is concerned because “unusually high” levels of phosphate have been recorded by Worcester Angling Society just downstream of the works since members started taking water samples in July 2021.