The UK government has brought significant change to its regulations which gives regulators in England greater power to fine companies that pollute water.
The change comes after many years of water quality decline which has not only affected precious aquatic ecosystems but also our ability to use water for recreation as well as the increased costs for treating water for drinking. Poor water quality is largely as a consequence of increased pollution in our watercourses.
The main pollutants damaging our environment include silt from construction sites, run off from roads and agricultural land, sewage from misconnections and flash flood events.
Tackling Poor Water Quality
The new Plan For Water will mean a change to regulations resulting in the end of the £250,000 cap and instead an unlimited ceiling on fines. Money raised from the fines will be used to reinvest back into the Water Restoration Fund.
Strengthened regulations mean that the Environment Agency and Natural England will be able to directly fine to the level they feel is appropriate in proportion to the damage caused. Serious offenders will still face criminal prosecution and the fine.
These new powers will also allow higher penalties to be imposed under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016; commonly used by the Environment Agency to investigate pollution incidents.
What is Your Plan?
So now is the time to really consider what every company should have in their plan to avoid polluting when working near or discharging into watercourses.
Bringing our water quality and silt control specialist team of consultants on board early allows you to prevent issues arising; through training up your staff, offering technical design and site preparation support, as well as products that are engineered to meet needs across a wide range of industries.
Our Silt Control Response Kit is something to always have to hand because sometimes accidents happen and limiting harm is the next best option. But prevention is king, so ensure that every member of staff has training and understands what we all need to do to protect our waterways, plus a few simple and economic products could save a company hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds in fines.
If you work in construction, utilities or the third sector and have infrastructure projects which could be affecting water quality, and think we can help, get in touch with us. Our technical team offer a no-obligation call of up to 1 hour free of charge.
Frog Environmental are award-winning water quality & silt control specialists working with contractors, regulators and consultants within construction, utilities, marine and coastal, and public sector industries across the UK.
We provide innovative solutions with a range of market-leading, sustainable products designed for projects of all sizes in or near water. Follow our news and updates, find out more about our products, or contact us for technical support.