Backlash over MPs river sewage vote

Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams has faced a wave of anger from local constituents after voting in favour of the Government’s rejection of a Lords Amendment to the Environment Bill to immediately outlaw storm flows.

Currently, water companies are permitted to pump raw sewage into rivers across the country during storms, and the debate boiled over to national levels last night as Conservative MPs explained their decision.

Critics claim that this gives the powerful water companies permission for uncontrolled pumping of sewage into our seas and rivers, but this “simply is not the case”, according to Mr Williams, who said there was a “huge amount of hyperbole and disinformation” about the issue.

He claims that the alternative during heavy rainfall is for our streets and homes to be flooded with sewage instead.

But he faced a huge backlash on social media with one constituent asking: “What sort of person votes to allow water companies to pump raw sewage into our water?”

We spoke to Mr Williams last night and he has issued the following statement:

“I wholeheartedly agree that maintaining clean waterways is absolutely vital, and that steps need to be taken to minimise sewage altogether from our rivers and seas. The current regulations are that water companies may only discharge sewage into waterways during periods of flooding, in order to prevent a catastrophic failure of our sewage networks during periods of extreme rainfall. I want to emphasise that such discharge is most definitely not the normal operation of water companies.

The amendment in question posed many serious risks, with the key aspect being its immediate and complete ban of storm overflows. Aside from requiring huge amounts of new sewage systems, which I would like to see implemented as quickly as possible, there were significant concerns that the amendment in its current state would cause discharges of sewage into streets and homes during extreme rainfall, which currently is allowed to enter rivers and seas instead.

The Environment Minister rightly pointed out that the amendment as drafted would have been irresponsible, not least the cost of the new infrastructure, which is estimated at £600 billion. The public health risks from sewage overflowing in streets and homes instead are simply not an option.

The amendment therefore needs some clear changes to strengthen it and with these necessary alterations I believe it would be suitable for inclusion within the Environment Bill. Right now, we need to do the long, detailed, practical work required to understand how we can deliver on these ambitions. It is neither glamorous nor headline-grabbing, but it is the most effective action in tackling storm overflows long-term.

I was also pleased to support amendments to the Bill which take firm and immediate action to tackle storm overflows in the short-term. This includes:

A new duty on water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis.
A new duty on water companies to publish near real time information (within 1 hour) of the commencement of an overflow, its location and when it ceases.
A new duty on water companies to continuously monitor the water quality upstream and downstream of a storm overflow and of sewage disposal works.
A new duty on water companies to produce comprehensive statutory Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans setting out how the company will manage and develop its networks, and how storm overflows will be addressed through these plans.

DEFRA also established a Storm Overflows Task Force in August 2020 to bring together key stakeholders from the water industry, environmental NGOs, regulators, and Government in order to drive progress in reducing sewage discharges. The Taskforce has agreed a goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.

I hope this information is helpful and reassures readers that any suggestion that MPs are not taking firm action on storm overflows is false. Last week Parliament voted in favour of taking a range of immediate steps to address storm overflows, together with a legal duty on government to produce detailed and costed plans for reducing and eliminating storm overflows entirely.”

PICTURE: The map from The Rivers Trust shows where sewage enters local rivers. The trust advises people to avoid entering the water immediately downstream of these discharges and avoid the overflows (brown circles), especially after it has been raining.