The Environment Agency is inviting local residents, land owners and stakeholders to discuss plans for its scheme to better protect properties from flooding.
Link: Press release: Tonbridge Hildenborough residents invited to flood scheme events
Source: Environment Agency
Beaches around the country achieved top water quality standards this year as millions flocked to the coast to enjoy the record-breaking hot weather.
Link: Press release: 388 top-rated beaches after scorching summer boosts visitors to seaside
Source: Environment Agency
Environment Agency teams have been working to restore eroding saltmarsh in north Essex to help preserve coastal defences and enhance the ecology.
Link: Press release: Project to help protect coastal defences and the environment
Source: Environment Agency
A specially designed fish pass could be rolled out across Essex to allow fish to travel more easily through rivers.
Link: Press release: Helping fish and eels along their journey
Source: Environment Agency
The Environment Agency will start repair work on Portreath sea wall this Thursday (15 November).
Link: Press release: Portreath sea wall repair work starts
Source: Environment Agency
The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
On 20 April 2017 the Environment Agency received reports that the River Yeo had turned purple downstream of the Pen Mill Trading Estate, Yeovil. Concerned members of the public reported discolouration up to 4 kilometres downstream of the industrial estate.
Environment Agency staff traced the source of the pollution to Ablebox Ltd, a local company manufacturing cardboard boxes and operating its own printing works at a premises in Buckland Road, Yeovil.
The next day officers returned to the premises and saw waste ink being hosed into a drain. They also found inappropriately stored containers of waste ink and spill kits already full of soiled absorbents. Dye testing confirmed the waste ink had flowed through the site’s surface water system and directly into the River Yeo via a surface water outfall.
An employee was later found to have poured up to 50 buckets of waste ink down a drain over a 2 to 3 day period. He stated he’d done so on the instruction of management because there was no room left in the waste ink storage containers. Ablebox Ltd claimed the employee had taken it upon himself to dispose of the ink without the company’s knowledge.
Magistrates heard that Wessex Water had previously detected unauthorised discharges in the sewerage system and that Ablebox Ltd had been told they were improperly disposing of waste ink through the drain and sewers on at least two occasions. The company blamed the illegal discharges on one of their employees.
Oliver Hill, for the Environment Agency, said:
Businesses must never pour any waste down surface water drains as they are often connected to nearby streams or rivers. By disposing of waste in this way you are committing a criminal offence. This prosecution serves as a timely reminder for businesses to act responsibly. Where we have evidence, we won’t hestitate to prosecute offenders.
Appearing before Yeovil magistrates, the company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,281 legal costs after pleading guilty to causing or knowingly permitting a discharge of noxious or polluting matter into a controlled watercourse contrary to section 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
The company was also ordered to pay investigation costs of £5,566 and a victim surcharge of £170. The case was heard on 7 November 2018.
Link: Press release: Packaging and print firm fined for turning river purple with hazardous waste
Source: Environment Agency
The Environment Agency and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) have successfully deployed a mobile weather radar in Cumbria. For the next 12 months, the NCAS X-band radar will provide data that will help improve the Environment Agency’s rainfall detection capability and should lead to an improvement in our flood forecasting and warning services.
The deployment is a collaborative research project between the Environment Agency, the University of Leeds and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, called Radar Applications in Northern England (RAIN-E).
Improve the weather radar coverage in north Cumbria for up to a year
Provide information to support the development of a long term weather solution for Cumbria
Further understand the challenges associated with collecting high quality data over mountainous terrain
Learn more about bringing multiple sources of rainfall data into the national weather radar
Weather radars are the most effective way to collect real-time rainfall information and NCAS operates the only mobile weather radar in the UK. The radar measures rain, wind and other parameters. Importantly, the location of the radar will improve the observations of rainfall over Cumbria, helping to make flood forecasting in the area more accurate.
Data collected by the radar will provide evidence for the need to invest in a permanent solution and help researchers better understand the type of extreme rainfall that sometimes affects Cumbria.
A separate partnership project between the Environment Agency, Met Office, National Resources of Wales, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland is developing a national strategy for the UK’s radar network over the next 15 years and data from the radar will help to support the development of a long term radar solution in Cumbria.
The deployment of the NCAS radar will help us to build a strong case for investment where it’s needed. We’re seeing many benefits from the collaboration including a greater interest from all parties to integrate data from deployments like this, and other third party radars into the national Met Office rainfall products.
The NCAS mobile X-band radar is able to make observations of rain in areas that are inadequately covered by the UK’s permanent radar network. We are happy to be working with the Environment Agency to provide them with high resolution data in this under-observed region so that they may improve their flood forecasts. For NCAS, we are excited to make observations in a new region that will allow us to explore many scientific questions about the rainfall processes in mountainous terrain.
Radar Applications in Northern England (RAINE) data collected by the NCAS X-band radar in Cumbria is available for researchers and members of the public to view.
The latest data and more information about the research agreement is available on the Cumbria weather radar website.
The National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) is a world-leading research centre dedicated to the advancement of atmospheric science, and is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.
For media enquiries please contact the press office on 0800 917 9252. For out of hours please call 0800 028 1989 and ask for the duty press officer.
Link: Press release: Weather Radar deployed in Cumbria to improve flood forecasting
Source: Environment Agency
The Hull+ scheme – a collaboration between Hull City Council and the Environment Agency – will see an investment of up to £5 million in environmental enhancements to the Dock Office Row area, as well as reducing flood risk to businesses, providing greater economic and job security in the area.
Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Environment Agency, it is envisaged that the work will generate additional investor confidence in the area.
It will complement the £27.4m Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project being delivered by Hull City Council. A grant of £15 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund helped enable the project.
The Dock Street area is identified as having potential to be used as a tourist destination in the local plan and includes improved footpaths to the waterfront.
Hull+ project manager Paul Ahdal, of the Environment Agency, said:
As well as improving flood defences in the area we hope the scheme will help provide a springboard for development and help continue to attract tourists to the city following the success of Hull 2017 City of Culture.
Councillor Daren Hale, Hull City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Investment and Regeneration, said:
It is great to see work starting in this area. It marks the beginning of an exciting journey ahead as we embark on an ambitious project to reconnect this part of the city centre with the waterfront, offering a new visitor centre and dry-berth for the Arctic Corsair telling the maritime story and important role this area played.
Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth Minister, Jake Berry MP, said:
I am really pleased to see this vital scheme coming together, delivering jobs and flood improvements for local businesses. It’s a great example of the Government working in partnership with the Council to stimulate growth through infrastructure and heritage investment in the Northern Powerhouse.
The first phase of work will see the removal of silt from the dry dock area off Dock Office Row.
This will allow the Arctic Corsair to be relocated to the area after being renovated by contractors for Hull City Council.
The silt removed will be sent for recycling and used in the manufacture of building blocks.
The Hull+ scheme compliments a number of other projects in the area which include the River Hull Defences, delivered by the Environment Agency, and the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project, delivered by Hull City Council.
Link: Press release: Work to regenerate dock area in Hull gets under way
Source: Environment Agency
From Cleveland to Northumberland, there are groups of flood wardens in communities in the North East.
On Tuesday November 6, the Environment Agency hosted an event to say thank you, to bring groups together in one place and show how by working together they can be more resilient to flooding.
Flood wardens – from areas including Corbridge, Morpeth, North Tyneside and Croft-on-Tees – were also given a tour of the new state-of-the-art North East Area Incident Room, which opened a year ago, where it was explained to them the steps the Environment Agency takes during an incident.
Phil Taylor, the Environment Agency’s Flood Resilience Team leader for the North East, hosted the event along with the four Flood Community Engagement Officers who work across the region to support communities in preparing for flooding. He said:
The event was really successful and was our chance to say thank you to them for taking the time out of their busy lives to support their communities in preparing for and during and after a flood.
By bringing the different flood warden groups together, they were able to share ideas about their community flood plan, and learn from each other’s experiences. And it was an opportunity to talk about the work we are doing to recruit more wardens and set up new groups in communities at risk.
The local knowledge flood wardens can provide on the ground is invaluable. They complement our work by implementing their community action plans and offer a key point of contact for us to be able to warn and inform.
Northumbrian Water also attended the event with some of their volunteer Water Rangers as the two organisations work together to understand how both sets of volunteers can join forces.
The Environment Agency’s four Flood Community Engagement Officers – Taryn Al-mashgari for Tyne and Wear, Sarah Duffy for Cleveland, Anna Caygill for Durham and Darlington and Colin Hall for Northumberland – work together with local authorities to help communities understand the different types of flooding, whether they are at risk, and how to prepare in the event of a flood.
The Environment Agency is encouraging people to learn how to Prepare Act Survive in a flood to reduce the impacts of damage.
Link: Press release: Event brings North East Flood Wardens together
Source: Environment Agency
A major new £600,000 flood scheme which protects homes and businesses in a Northumberland town from tidal flooding is complete.
The previous 180m flood wall in the Cowpen area of Blyth has been upgraded and extended to create a 380m wall to reduce the risk of flooding to the town.
When taking climate change into account these new defences, from Crawford Street to Quay Road, will protect over 1,000 properties into the future while also offering immediate improved protection from tidal flooding to 58 properties.
The work has been funded by the Environment Agency but was built by Port of Blyth as part of their wider redevelopment of the adjacent Bates and Wimbourne Quay terminals.
While the Environment Agency has advised on the specifications and design of the flood wall, the Port of Blyth will own and maintain the wall. The Environment Agency will carry out annual inspections of the new structures.
Leila Huntington, the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk Manager for the North East, said:
We’re delighted this flood wall is now complete and hope it provides peace of mind to local residents that they have increased protection from tidal flooding now and into the future.
This is a great example of an effective and efficient partnership project and we have worked closely with the Port of Blyth to create something which means a greater standard of flood protection at a reduced cost.
I’d like to thank local residents for their patience throughout this work. We’re committed to increasing protection for our communities at risk of flooding and are continuously looking for opportunities to collaborate with our partners and provide the best possible solutions.
Alan Todd, Port Director at the Port of Blyth, added:
We’re delighted that these works are now complete and offer immediate improvements to the flood defences for the town, its residents and businesses.
We are now able to focus on further phases of the redevelopment which will see the Bates and Wimbourne Quay terminals become one terminal, offering increased opportunities for growth and significant inward investment.
A Flood Warning service is available for Blyth residents considered to be at risk of flooding, one for the North Sea at Blyth and another for the North Sea at Blyth Town Centre.
To check if you are at risk of flooding and to sign up for free flood warnings call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit the gov.uk website
Link: Press release: New Northumberland flood scheme complete
Source: Environment Agency
