30 BILLION LITRES OF RAW SEWAGE DUMPED INTO THAMES IN A YEAR

9.30.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 16th Sep 2005

The London Assembly Liberal Democrats today reveal shocking new figures showing that more than 30 billion litres of raw sewage was pumped into the Thames in the last year.

The new figures, uncovered by Lib Dem Mike Tuffrey, show that between the September 2004 and August 2005, 30,684,350,000 litres of untreated sewage were dumped into the river due to the inability of London's sewers to cope. On average, this is the equivalent of more than 33 Olympic size swimming pools of raw sewage being emptied into the Thames every day.

The volumes of sewage pumped into the Thames has become so serious that it has prompted an investigation by the European Union to find out whether the British government is breaching environmental rules.

After 12 months of investigation, Mike Tuffrey has put forward a three-point plan to start tackling the problem:-

· A Government commitment to build the 'interceptor tunnel' that would prevent the regular deluges of raw sewage into the Thames.

· Ministerial agreement to implement any recommendations put forward by the European Union following their investigations

· Urgent publication of the review by the Environment Agency and Thames Water into the solutions they recommend to tackle sewage discharges

Liberal Democrat London Assembly environment spokesperson, Mike Tuffrey, said:-

"These figures are an absolute disgrace. Londoners are having to put up with huge amounts of sewage being pumped into the Thames every week. It is bad for the environment, bad for human health and bad for the image of our city.

"It is incredible that despite all the predictions that global warming would cause more violent storms and heavier downpours, London's sewer system is totally unprepared and unable to cope and pumping millions of tones of raw sewage into the Thames.

"The dumping of raw sewage into the Thames is something that happened in the Victorian era. It certainly should not be happening in the 21st century in one of the most developed capital city's in the world.

"There must be no more discussion, delay or dithering. The longer Ministers drag their feet the more this will ultimately cost the taxpayer to build and the more likely that these problems will damage the health of Londoners."

ENDS

Notes to editor

Figures have been obtained by the London Assembly Liberal Democrats from the Environment Agency and show that between September 2004 and August 2005, 30,684,350 million cubic metres of raw sewage was pumped into the Thames

One Cubic metre is equivalent to 1,000 litres. Therefore there was 30,684,350,000 litres of raw sewage pumped in to the Thames.

According to OfWat, an Olympic size swimming pool holds 2.5million litres of water.

Therefore 30,684,350,000/2,500,000=12,273.74 Olympic size swimming pools of raw sewage dumped into the Thames every year.

12,273.74/365=33.6 Olympic size swimming pools of raw sewage dumped in to the Thames every day

CUBIC METRES OF RAW SEWAGE DISCHARGE INTO THE THAMES FROM EACH PUMPING STATION IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

Month ABBEY MILLS CROSSNESS GREENWICH HAMMERSMITH LOTS ROAD MOGDEN WESTERN Total

Sep 04 327,630 62,734 12,000 9,000 6,770 90,600 508,734

Oct 04 1,476,048 2,047,607 190,932 983,600 346,680 649,290 643,450 6,337,607

Nov 04 135,820 1,812,431 77,000 28,980 36,000 26,200 2,116,431

Dec 04 2,533,342 1,110,030 520,668 486,000 468,900 69,040 429,050 5,617,030

Jan 05 738,000 7,000 20,500 59,100 824,600

Feb 05 201,600 480,521 127,224 172,800 982,145

Mar 05 1,561,293 2,722,446 226,080 23,400 24,000 140 217,325 4,774,684

Apr 05 774,515 3,003,203 371,844 21,000 8,720 36,600 4,215,882

May 05 -

Jun 05 854,820 49,032 74,448 207,000 144,900 172,200 1,502,400

Jul 05 453,600 570,978 120,000 31,500 139,000 1,315,078

Aug 05 1,028,420 782,957 469,782 64,000 59,000 37,800 47,800 2,489,759

Total 10,085,088 12,641,939 1,980,978 2,001,000 1,133,460 807,760 2,034,125 30,684,350

· The European Union are conducting investigations into whether the UK is failing to fulfil its obligations under Article 3(1) and Annex IA and Articles 5(2), 5(3), 10 and Annex I.B of Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment.

18 Jul 2005 : Column 1289W—continued

Water Resources

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 674W, on the Water Resources Treatment and Action Programme, if she will place in the Library her Department's response to the European Commission investigation into UK compliance with the provisions under Article 3(1) and Annex 1A and Articles 5(2), 5(3), 10 and Annex 1B of Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment. [7663]

Mr. Morley: Following careful consideration, I regret to inform you that we have decided not to place a copy of the response in the Library of the House.

The information is being withheld as the Department considers its disclosure would have an adverse effect on international relations between the UK and the Commission and on the course of justice. This is because the information relates to open infraction proceedings and ongoing investigations. For the same reasons disclosure would not be in the public interest at this stage of the proceedings.

• Thames Water spent £4million on a study, which revealed that the establishment of the interceptor tunnel would take about ten years to build and cost £1.5billion.

• On Monday 4th October 2004, DEFRA published its final water pricing review and guidance and concluded:-

"2.6. With respect to intermittent discharges from combined sewer overflows to the Thames Tideway, the Principal Guidance noted that work was being carried out by Thames Water and the Environment Agency to inform decisions. While the proposed interceptor tunnel might still emerge as the most appropriate long-term solution, the Government has since decided that, bearing in mind the scale, the costs and the long implementation timescale, further consideration is necessary before decisions are reached. The Government has therefore asked Thames Water and the Environment Agency to undertake further work on the interceptor tunnel proposal and on other measures that might be alternative or additional. This further work is to include smaller-scale measures and those that could bring earlier improvements on intermittent discharges. Robustness of the system and emergencies"