+44 (0)1279 600 440
Environmental Innovations
Environmental Innovations
  • Home
  • About
  • Products & Services
    • Overviews
      • Spill, Firewater, CSO and In-Drain Containment
      • Flood and Blocked Sewer detection, and mitigation solutions
      • Complete Interceptor and Separator Systems, from tank to monitoring
      • Wireless and Remote links, sensors and alarms
    • Solutions
      • The Flapstopper
      • The Drainstopper
      • The Telestopper
      • Flood Warning Systems and Alarm
      • Blocked Sewer Detection
      • Vertical Stack Block Sewer Detection
      • Interceptor Alarms
      • Basic Oil Interceptor Alarm
      • Fully Integrated Oil Interceptor Alarm
      • Bypass Interceptor
      • Full Retention Oil Interceptor
      • Drainage and CCTV Surveys
    • Wireless
      • Wireless Call Point
      • Wireless and Remote links, sensors and alarms
      • Industrial Kitchen Blocked Sewer Sentinel
      • Wireless Link Transmitter
  • Servicing & Installation
  • Blog
  • Contact
Menu back  

Containment News April 2015: ‘Impact of Pollution’

April 9, 2015Leave a commentUncategorizedBy enviro

Environmental Spending Control

‘Impact of Pollution’ 

Cuts have consequences: the ridiculous task of being told to do more with less is something which the Environment Agencies share with the UK’s Emergency Services as all have faced very hefty budget cuts.  Successive governments have adopted the policy of looking at statistical improvements in crime rates and  pollution levels as a clear indication that it’s therefore necessary and safe to cut staff and funding, ignoring the  correlation that in both cases the improvements and stability will have been primarily linked to ‘adequate’  staffing levels.  The cutbacks always appear justified right up until the time when ‘something happens’, for the  Environment Agency that was the recent disastrous floods, for the Emergency Services that will tragically be  another mainland terrorist attack.

It is dangerous and totally counterproductive to treat these services like a thermostat that can be dialled up and down to compensate for fluctuations in their statistical effectiveness.

Recently released Environment Agency figures showing that just 17% of England’s rivers are judged to be in good health (down from 29% in 2014) needs to be a wake-up call that drastic action needs to be taken.  The statistics show that only 0.08% of England’s rivers are high quality.  Rose O’Neill from the WWF said:

“The figures released are shocking and show us that things are worse than we thought. This is unacceptable and threatens wildlife and livelihoods, it’s clear that we are failing our rivers and the wildlife they impact. We need to see government action to restore these rivers”.  As Rob Cunningham, head of water policy at the RSPB rightly said “we shouldn’t ignore great efforts by wildlife groups, rivers trusts, water companies and others to make real improvements to our rivers, but we clearly need a step change if we are going to make meaningful progress.”  And whilst there is no doubt that the tightening of the EU’s assessment criteria has had an impact on the figures, using that as an excuse has as much credence as a yo-yo dieter blaming an increase in their weight on the greater accuracy of their new scales!

Thankfully society’s understanding and awareness of the impact of pollution continues to grow and the days when ‘environmentalists’ could be easily dismissed as a bunch of tree-huggers who didn’t live in the ‘real world’ are hopefully gone forever.  Pollution does not discriminate, it has no demographic or political allegiance which means that increasing spending to combat pollution in our rivers and at our beaches is not a controversial vote-risking political gamble it is something which benefits us all, animal, vegetable and mineral.   We need to look no further than India (more than half of its rivers  are polluted) and China (one third its major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water are contaminated) to see extreme cases of what can happen when pollution is not taken seriously. Cuts have consequences.

 

Phil Bremner

Editor:  Containment News, Flood News, Wireless eNews & LPRA eNews

Containment News April 2015

 

About the author

enviro

Related posts
Pollution Containment Device
Box Valve Automated PCD Installed at the UK’s First EV Battery Recycling Plant
February 11, 2021
Bonfire of Environmental Regulations
Containment News July 2016: ‘Bonfire of Environmental Legislation’
July 23, 2016
Brexit Environmental Impacts
Containment News June 2016: ‘Environmental Impacts of Brexit’
June 16, 2016
Pollution Conspiracy Theory Alert
Containment News May 2016: ‘Conspiracy Theory Alert’
May 12, 2016
Surfers against sewage, sewage free seas 2016
Containment News April 2016: ‘Sewage Free Seas’
April 15, 2016
Lacklustre direction for environmental targets
Containment News March 2016: ‘Lacklustre Direction for Environmental Targets’
March 21, 2016
Leave Comment

Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

WHAT CLIENTS SAY
  • “Containment news is a great free resource, packed with the latest relevant news on environmental crimes, actions and solutions.  Subscribe now and ensure you are kept up to date with all the important environmental issues.”

    Andy Cummins – Campaign Director for Surfers Against Sewage
  • “Containment News is an informative news-feed and I’d encourage all of our Environment Officers to sign-up to it.”

     

    Paul Linster – CEO of the Environment Agency
CONTACT US
The Innovation Farm
Sawbridgeworth Road
Little hallingbury
Bishop’s Stortford
Hertfordshire
CM22 7QU
QUICK LINKS
  • Case Studies
  • FAQ's
  • Contact
  • Brochure Download
  • Environmental Regulations
CONTAINMENT NEWS
  • Box Valve Automated PCD Installed at the UK’s First EV Battery Recycling Plant
    February 11, 2021
  • Bonfire of Environmental Regulations
    Containment News July 2016: ‘Bonfire of Environmental Legislation’
    July 23, 2016
  • Brexit Environmental Impacts
    Containment News June 2016: ‘Environmental Impacts of Brexit’
    June 16, 2016
© 2015 Environmental Innovations Ltd

Website by Brilliant Ltd