The
Environment Agency has pledged to spend
more than £200,000 on tackling pollution
and keeping our rivers clean.
The Environment Agency
has pledged to spend more than £200,000
on tackling pollution and keeping our rivers
clean.
Awards totalling £217,000
have been distributed by the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) to tackle Urban Diffuse Pollution
(UDP) in the Thames Region.
This is pollution usually
widespread within a particular river catchment
and comes from a number of sources including
atmosphere, industry and homeowners. It
can be caused by lots of small pollutions,
such as little drips from an oil tank, that
flow into drains, watercourses and the ground.
Cash will be spent this
year on measures to combat three strands
of oil and chemical UDP: groundwater, surface
water and oil care pollution. Reducing these
is an essential element of the UK improving
water quality under the EU Water Framework
Directive (WFD).
Under the WFD the UK
is required to achieve good ecological status
in all surface waters and ground waters
by 2027. Currently only 24% of water bodies
in Thames region are at good status. The
Environment Agency is the competent authority
for delivering WFD objectives in England
and Wales.
Stephanie Ryall, an
Environment Agency project manager, said:
“Urban diffuse pollution is a blight on
our environment and this money will help
tackle the problem upfront and help us achieve
good ecological status in rivers and improvements
in groundwater quality
“It is fantastic that
we have got these grants and they will help
make our rivers cleaner and more attractive
for everyone.“
How and where the oil
care pollution money will be spent:
River Lee
The Lower Lee in London has poor water quality,
and needs to be improved under the WFD,
so £100,000 is being spent to make
it better.
There have been a number
of significant oil pollution incidents,
traceable to its tributaries, notably at
Pymmes Brook and the Brimsdowne Ditch.
A team of 10 Environment
Officers have been selected and will find
hazardous waste producers in these catchments
and seek non-compliance. They will compliment
this with pollution prevention investigations
targeting surface water management and oil
separator maintenance at the sites.
Some partnership work
with Thames Water looking at misconnections
and illegal trade effluent discharges will
be required. It may also be appropriate
to work with Transport for London and Local
Authorities.
Regional oil care pollution
campaign
A further £20,000 will be spent on
a region-wide oil care pollution campaign
to promote correct storage and disposal
of oil at the home, at work and on rivers,
particularly boats.
Grants will be used
for staff time worked on the project and
advertising. The intention is to work with
the British Marine Federation, British Waterways
(for the boats) and heating oil providers
to help promote good storage.
Pollution prevention
visits:
A further £30,000
will be spent to help indicate industrial
estates in the Thames Region south east
area -which covers parts of Berkshire, Surrey,
Hampshire and Kent - where evidence suggests
they are causing oil pollution in WFD high
and medium risk urban pollution watercourses.
Most of this money will
be spent on pollution prevention visits
targeted towards those industrial sites
that have potentially caused a problem in
the past.
How the £20,000
given to help reduce groundwater pollution
will be spent:
Targeted pollution prevention
campaign and advising industry in groundwater
vulnerable areas in the Greenwich area.
Information gathering
on urban herbicide usage in groundwater
vulnerable areas of the Mole Valley in Surrey,
for example spraying by local authority,
Highways Authority and anywhere where drainage
infiltrates ground.
Targeted pollution prevention
visits and advising industries using chlorinated
solvents in the Maidenhead area. Also investigate
urban use of pesticides, eg Local Authority
paved areas which are drained by infiltration
to the ground.
Carry out targeted Pollution
Prevention campaign and advising industry,
particularly in relation to solvents and
urban use of herbicides in the Watford and
Luton-Dunstable areas.
Carry out targeted Pollution Prevention
campaign and advising industry and airfield
operators in an area of the Cotswolds.
Surface water:
River Kennet:
Staff will monitor both the Kennet and surface
water drain outlets in Newbury to locate
priority targets for this £47,000
project. The Environment Agency is also
working with Thames Water to help target
actions required on its assets which will
lead to better water quality and improved
ecology.
Tips for preventing
oil pollution:
• Always store oils
and chemicals in secured, bunded areas away
from surface water drains and soakaways
• Always supervise oil
and chemical deliveries
• If you’re in industry
keep oil spill kits on site near to your
oil storage
• Make sure people know
where they are and how to use them
Stop oil from entering
any drains or watercourses using the contents
of the oil spill kit, sand or soil
Never hose oil down drains or use detergents
Oil and water don’t mix so keep them apart
Oil can pollute rivers causing harm to fish
and birds and removing vital oxygen from
the water
If using oil on a boat, take care not to
overfill your tank or let any drips fall
Check your bilge for oil before pumping
it out. If oil is there, use absorbent sheets
or pillows to remove it before pumping
Top tips for reducing groundwater pollution:
• Carry out all activities
in line with the Environment Agency’s Groundwater
Protection: Policy and Practice (GP3). This
sets out the Environment Agency’s strategy
for groundwater management, particularly
its approach to groundwater protection.
• Your activity may
require a permit from the Environment Agency
• Never dispose of chemicals
onto the ground
• Avoid spills onto
the ground. If they do occur, clean up immediately
and contact the Environment Agency for further
advice
Call the Environment
Agency’s 24-hour emergency hotline free
on 0800 80 70 60 to report pollution incidents.
For more tips call the Environment Agency’s
customer services line on 08708 506 506.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Stephanie Ryall is available for interview
on Thursday, 10 September between 10am and
4pm. Please call the press office on 0118
953 5555.
The Water Framework
Directive (WFD) establishes a strategic
and integrated river basin management approach
to the land and water environment. It includes
a common approach to setting environmental
objectives for all groundwater, surface
waters, estuaries and coastal waters within
the European Community. The WFD requires
Member States to draw up plans for meeting
these objectives in each River Basin District,
these are geographical areas, approximately
regional in scale and based on river catchment
areas. It is an opportunity for people and
organisations to work together to protect
and improve the quality of every aspect
of the water environment from groundwaters,
rivers and lakes to estuaries and coasts.
A River Basin Management
Plan will be produced for each river basin
district, every six years, up to 2027. The
plans must state the environmental objectives
for the river basin district, explain where
different objectives to good ecological
status have been selected (because of necessary
timescales for improvement, availability
of improvement techniques or it is disproportionately
costly to go further), and summarise the
programme of delivery actions.
The overall objective of the European Union’s
WFD is consistent water management across
Europe in order to:
• reduce pollution, prevent deterioration
and improve the condition of aquatic ecosystems,
including wetlands;
• promote the sustainable
use of water;
• help reduce the effects
of floods and droughts.
4. The WFD sets a target
of aiming to achieve at least ‘good ecological
status’ in all waters by 2015. For surface
waters, good status has an ecological and
a chemical component. It is measured on
the scale maximum, good, moderate, poor
and bad; and good chemical status as pass
or fail. For groundwater, good status has
a quantitative and a chemical component,
which together provide a single final classification:
good or poor status.
