Protected nature sites regularly afflicted by sewage discharges, Greenpeace finds

Greenpeace has published data showing sensitive and protective water environments regularly receive untreated sewage discharges.

Its investigative unit, Unearthed, overlaid water company Event Duration Monitoring data from 2022 onto maps of England and Wales’ Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protected Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance) to identify every pipe that discharged within 50m of a protected nature site.

The work identified that 1,193 overflows discharge within 50m of a protected area, with 515 protected areas affected. 305,963 hours of spills were mapped in 2022. Unearthed pointed out that many affect much loved destinations. One of the worst affected was the River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District (receiving more than 6,600 hours) and Chichester and Langstone Harbour, an SPA and Ramsar site on the south coast (receiving over 3,200 hours).

In addition to the officially protected areas, the investigation found:

• rivers, lakes and marine areas already in danger from high levels of nutrients from sewage and fertilisers (sensitive to eutrophication) received more than 200,000 hours of sewage – it warned that human illness and toxic algal blooms were among the potential consequences of untreated sewage release;

• over 38,000 hours of sewage were released into or within 50m of chalk streams in England while Defra’s Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan gives water companies until 2045 to meet new standards for all sensitive sites and political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, Megan Corton Scott, called for water company dividends and bonuses to be tied to spill data; and

• newspaper reports have linked a spate of sickness and diarrhoea suffered by tens of participants in sea swimming events at the 2023 World Triathlon Championship in Sunderland with sewage discharges.

The event took place at the Blue Flag Roker Beach. British Triathlon and World Triathlon said water quality in the swim area passed tests in line with competition guidelines. However, Environment Agency sampling at the beach outside of the swim area (taken before the event but published after it) showed elevated levels of E coli. The organisers are working with Sunderland City Council and the UK Health Security Agency North East to establish what happened.