Lucy
Harding - 8-Jan-2008 - Environment Agency
launches annual ‘State of the Environment’
report. View the report at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regions/southern/1168940/?version=1&lang=_e
More homes protected
from flooding, improved bathing waters,
better air quality and salmon returning
to our rivers. These are just some of the
environmental highlights of 2007. But in
a report launched today, the Environment
Agency is warning that despite these many
improvements, climate change is now the
biggest environmental challenge facing the
South East and one that is increasingly
affecting our lives.
The Environment Agency
today (Tuesday 8 January 2008) launches
it’s seventh ‘State of the Environment’
report which provides an annual environmental
health check for the South East. The report
for 2007 shows that there have been some
significant improvements in the quality
of our environment in the South East, with
highlights including:
- Over 12,000 more properties
across the South East have been protected
from flooding in the last four years;
- Air quality has improved over the last
decade as a result of developing technologies,
cleaner fuels and tougher standards placed
on industry;
- Salmon populations are showing signs of
stabilising in the Rivers Test and Itchen
in Hampshire and are also known to be returning
annually to the River Thames;
- We are now using 6 per cent less water
per person than in 2006.
Howard Davidson, Regional
Director for the Environment Agency Southern
Region, said: “We are very lucky in the
South East to benefit from a high quality
environment with access to both the coast
and the countryside - the improvements we
are seeing in areas such as our bathing
water, river and air quality and wildlife
are helping us all to have a better quality
of life. But with climate change increasingly
affecting the way we live our lives, our
report shows that we still need to do more.”
The South East has the
highest ecological footprint per person
- a measure of the resources we use and
the waste and pollution we produce.
Howard Davidson continues:
“We need to take action now to adapt to
the unavoidable impacts of climate change
by flood-proofing housing and reducing water
use for instance. But we also need to limit
further change and do more to reduce our
ecological footprint - landfill is still
the biggest method of disposal for our waste
and road traffic continues to increase.
By making the right choices for the way
we live we all have an opportunity to be
part of the solution for the long term future
of the South East.”
+ More
Environment Agency and
Kent Police foil illegal waste ring
Catherine Ross - 9-Jan-2008
- The Environment Agency and Kent Police
made three arrests during raids in Rochester
and Iwade yesterday (Tuesday 8 January).
They raided an illegal waste site and evidence
was collected to bring prosecutions.
Three men were arrested
on suspicion of the illegal dumping and
disposal by burning of large quantities
of waste. One of the men arrested has been
bailed pending further enquiries and must
report to a police station in five weeks,
the other two have been reported for summons
and the Environment Agency is compiling
a prosecution file.
A spokesman for the
Environment Agency’s Environmental Crime
Team said:
“Waste crime is big
business in Kent. We have been using new
methods and technologies for collecting
evidence where we believe illegal waste
activity is going on.
“In this case, the criminals
have been taking waste wood from a licensed
waste transfer station and burning it at
an illegal site. We believe both the operators
of the licensed waste site and those who
have been taking the waste away and burning
it have committed crimes. Now they may face
fines of up to £50,000 and a prison
sentence.
“We are committed to
cleaning up the environment in Kent. This
case should send a clear message to anyone
thinking they can make a quick buck from
illegal waste activity that we are watching
them and they won’t get away with it.”
Notes to editors:
We are unable to give names of Environment
Agency officers involved in this operation
for their safety and security.
