SEWAGE was spilled into the River Severn in Worcester some 81 times for the equivalent of more than 43 days in 2021, new figures have revealed.
The findings have been highlighted after Severn Trent was referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by Fish Legal for allegedly refusing to disclose information about operations at its Worcester sewage treatment works
Severn Trent has a permit to discharge both ‘storm’ sewage and treated sewage into the River Severn at Diglis,.
But the ICO has been asked by Fish Legal to consider whether Severn Trent has acted lawfully in rejecting requests for details about such discharges and the works’ maintenance programme in 2022.
While required to keep maintenance records to demonstrate compliance with the permit and to operate to minimise the polluting effects into the river, Severn Trent has argued such records do not constitute environmental information according to Fish Legal.
Sewage was spilled for a total of 1,051 hours into the Severn and high levels of phosphate have been recorded by Worcester Angling Society just downstream of the works since members started taking water samples in July 2021.
The work led to a pilot project being set up by the Angling Trust for the River Severn catchment which was later rolled out nationally.
Glyn Marshall, the chairman of Worcester Angling Society, said “I was fishing the Lower Severn downstream of the treatment works after a flood in Spring 2021.
“I noticed there were pant liners and other debris trapped in the bankside vegetation.
“Catches on our club water below the works had been fluctuating for several years. I did not want my local River Severn to follow the demise of the River Wye so I personally started monitoring the river.
“The results were shocking, off the scale of my phosphate meter and the levels were high below the works,” he added.
Penelope Game, head of practice at Fish Legal highlighted a landmark case in 2015 which asks privatised water companies to disclose environmental information (EIR), except in very limited circumstances.
“Since the ruling, some water companies have been as creative as possible to avoid their legal duties,” she said.
“But we are prepared to challenge them because the public right to access information has been critical in exposing poor and potentially illegal activity in the water industry.”
In response, a Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility to provide data under the EIR very seriously.
“We responded to the EIR received from Fish Legal on all but two areas – one of which related to information subject to an exemption under the EIR, which has previously been accepted by the ICO; and the other related to information we believe fell outside the remit of the EIR.
“In 2022, we committed our operations will not be the reason for any stretch of river in our region to be classified as unhealthy by 2030 and we’re continuing to invest £100million a year to go even further in improving our rivers.
“We’re consistently recognised for our industry leading performance, consistently receiving the highest four-star rating by the Environment Agency and are committed to being open and transparent about our performance and our plans.”
