Category: Environment Agency

New fish pass ‘baffles’ to help fish get across a barrier in the River Wear have been installed this week in a significant step forward for the new Stanhope Fish Pass.

The Environment Agency resumed work on the fish pass in June after it was postponed in November due to health and safety concerns about high river levels, and to allow for fish to spawn.

The £260,000 project at Stanhope Weir includes a Larinier fish pass to open up the river and make it easier for salmon and sea trout to move up the River Wear to spawn.

Baffles are a series of metal plates which are fixed to a sloped concrete channel – they slow the flow of the water so that fish can swim over the top of them easily.

The Environment Agency is also carrying out repairs to the weir which will improve the river flow and level monitoring capability of the Stanhope River Gauging Station.

‘Significant step forward’

Daniel Magee Project Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

It’s a significant step forward for the new fish pass to see the baffles going in – this is going to make it so much easier for fish to reach their natural spawning grounds and is good news for the River Wear.

By also improving the monitoring capabilities of the gauging station we can continue to provide an accurate and timely flood warning service to around 400 homes at risk of flooding from the River Wear.

When the work is complete it safeguards the flood warning system for the future as well as creating environmental improvements. We appreciate the community’s continued patience while this work has been ongoing.

Stanhope Gauging Station is ranked in the top 10 most important flow sites in the North East area. Opened in September 1958 it has an almost continuous record of flow data, making it one of the longest flow records in the North East area at 60 years.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

With the hot weather set to continue for the next few weeks, the Environment Agency and the Pike Anglers’ Club (PAC) are asking people to take extra care while fishing to help protect vulnerable fish stocks.

Prolonged hot weather can cause problems in rivers, lakes and drains such as low oxygen levels, low river flows, elevated water temperatures and algal blooms, which in turn can lead to increased levels of stress on fish populations and even fish deaths in extreme conditions.

Steve Lane, Fisheries Technical Specialist at the Environment Agency said:

The hot weather and high water temperatures can make life difficult for fish.

We’re asking anglers to take particular care while fishing as the dry weather continues to help us protect fish stocks.

Please return fish to the water as quickly as possible and avoid using keepnets if practical to do so, particularly on lakes, the Broads and rivers with low flows.

Some species such as pike and barbel can be particularly vulnerable in hot conditions.

John Currie, General Secretary of the Pike Anglers’ Club and Chairman of the Broads Angling Services Group’s (BASG) Pike Strategy Group and Environment Sub Group, said:

PAC would ask anglers to consider the conditions caused by the very hot weather before deciding to fish.

The shallow waters of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, the Fens and the Somerset Levels are of particular concern, though we are also aware of problems further north.

It’s not just oxygen levels that can cause fish problems in warm conditions, so we urge anglers to think carefully before fishing.

Steve added:

As ever, anglers can help us protect fish by reporting signs of dead or distressed fish, pollution or illegal fishing to the 24 hour Environment Agency Incident Hotline number 0800 80 70 60.

Anglers can find further advice and guidance from the Pike Anglers’ Club.

The Environment Agency has received an application for a permit to discharge treated sewage effluent during construction of the proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C near Bridgwater, Somerset.

The application has been made by NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited, a subsidiary of EDF Energy.
The company already has a number of environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency to operate the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station on the North Somerset coast near Bridgwater.

The application is for the discharge of up to 1,150 cubic metres of treated effluent a day from a sewage treatment plant serving the campus construction welfare facilities that include wash basins, toilets, showers, a kitchen and a canteen, during the early stages of the construction at Hinkley Point C.

Domestic sewage effluent will be treated via a new British Standard sewage treatment plant before being pumped to the Severn Estuary. In order to minimise the impact on the receiving environment, the applicant proposes that the effluent will be subjected to disinfection by ultra violet irradiation before being discharged.

The applicant is proposing to discharge the effluent via an existing submerged outlet location near the seaward end of the Hinkley Point C jetty (known as Outlet 12).

People can view the permit application and submit comments online.

Comments can be made by email to psc-waterquality@environment-agency.gov.uk or by post, quoting application number EPR/XP3321GD/A001, by 5pm on 5 September 2018, to:

This information is also held in a register at:

You can look at our register 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. Please phone the National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506 to arrange an appointment. You may get a copy of documents on the register. We may charge to cover copying costs.

Normally we must put any responses we receive on the public register. Please tell us if you don’t want your response to be public.

We must decide whether to grant or refuse the application. If we grant it, we must decide what conditions to include in the permit. Our guidance explains what factors are relevant to our determination.

Mixed commercial and construction/demolition waste was illegally stored at a site in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, despite advice given by Environment Agency officers.

Cambridge Magistrates’ Court heard that the site in Long Drove began as a skip hire site but soon became an unpermitted waste transfer station.

Stop notices were twice placed on the business but Daniel Lee Crockwell, aged 35, of Milton Road, Cambridge, carried on operating.

On 26 July 2018 Mr Gurjit Bdesha, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court:

He ignored advice and guidance given to him on numerous visits by Agency officers.

Crockwell had no previous waste experience but tried to compete with established businesses in the area.
As well as the suspended prison sentence, magistrates ordered Crockwell to pay £5,592 costs.

The site of Cambridge Skip Hire at Half Acre Site was first visited by Environment Agency investigating officers in August 2016. No-one was around so a letter was left asking the business to make contact, but it failed to do so and a stop letter was placed on the business.

In November 2016 officers tracked down Crockwell, the company director, who reluctantly agreed to meet them at the site. Mr Bdesha told magistrates:

He told them he needed a few weeks to clear the site and would meet with them again.

Crockwell agreed to clear the site by 16 February 2017 but failed to do so and eventually the landowners took control of the site and cleared it themselves.

Mr Bdesha said Crockwell had taken a risk in running the business illegally and had only ever held a waste carriers’ licence during the year of operating at Long Drove.

He had eventually stopped taking in extra waste in November 2017 and closed down his website and disconnected the phones at the same time.

Mr Bdesha said that before a waste transfer station could be operated at the site there would have had to have been improvements to the infrastructure to protect the environment. Planning and health and safety requirements would also have been needed.

After the hearing, Environment Agency Enforcement Team Leader Phil Henderson said:

Whilst the Environment Agency seeks to work with operators who co-operate and want to comply with the law, we will take action against those who don’t.

Always make sure you are operating legally before embarking on a waste management activity or you are likely to get a visit from our enforcement officers.

More information on permitting waste activities.

Crockwell pleaded guilty to:

Between 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 on land known as Half Acre Site, Long Drove, Waterbeach, CB25 9LR, you operated a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the deposit, storage and treatment of waste without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Contrary to Regulation 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

The Environment Agency has today confirmed its commitment to the Lower Otter Restoration Project while applications for funding grants are made.

This assurance means that work to manage the estuary can press ahead and avoid delays on delivering the £8-9 million scheme.

Ben Johnstone, Environment Agency flood risk manager, said:

We are completely committed to the Lower Otter Restoration Project and, together with our partners, want to drive forward our work to create multiple benefits for people and wildlife.

Following public consultation the project team has selected the best option for the Lower Otter, which will include restoring the Big and Little Marsh floodplain. Most of the existing embankments will be kept with breaches to allow water to flow through. It will also create new intertidal and freshwater habitats with no increase in height to current water levels and flood risk.

The partnership scheme will provide new and improved access and amenities including maintaining the South West Coast Path and relocating the Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club. It will also protect the old municipal tip in the flood plain and deliver compensatory habitat for the construction and maintenance of flood defences in the Exe Estuary such as Starcross, Cockwood and Exmouth.

Dr Sam Bridgewater from the Lower Otter Restoration Project team said:

This is great news from one of the key project partners. We can now seek the necessary consents and permissions from a variety of authorities, so that we are ready to start work on the ground as soon as possible once funding is confirmed.

A public exhibition on the Lower Otter Restoration Project will be held later this year – details to follow.

If you are planning a visit to Sandwell Valley Park, Forge Mill Farm or RSPB on Thursday 9 August, why not come and talk to Environment Agency staff about the Perry Barr and Witton Flood Risk Management Scheme?

Environment Agency staff will be setting up a stall near the Forge Mill Farm car park on 9 August, from 1pm to 4pm, to talk to local residents and visitors about the progress being made.

The completed scheme will reduce flood risk for 1,400 properties in the area. Phase 2 of the scheme, will provide additional flood storage at Forge Mill in Sandwell Valley, which is upstream of Perry Barr and Witton, and will control the flow of flood water downstream. Park users will have seen construction happening around Forge Mill Farm, at the golf course and along the river side.

Rachel Kelly, Environment Agency Project Manager for the Scheme said:

This is a great opportunity to find out more about what we’ve been doing so far and we have planned for the coming months. Come and hear more about the scheme, including an additional river crossing providing a circular walking route and environmental enhancements, such as the creation of wet woodland, crassula management (in conjunction with RSPB), tree planting, tree and hedgerow management and creation of new habitats in areas where we are taking material to build the embankment.

The main aspects of this phase include the building of a new embankment, installation of the river outlet and temporarily re-diverting the river.

The scheme, costing just over £32 million, is part of the Environment Agency’s programme of £2.6 billion investment into flood defences across the country. The scheme was made possible through funding contributions from Birmingham City Council, Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, Arts Council and crowd-funding.

The first phase of the scheme was completed in spring 2017. Following improvements to the existing upstream flood storage area at Perry Hall Playing Fields, Phase 1 delivered improvement works in Perry Barr and Witton, including wall repairs and wall raising along Brookvale Road, construction of walls along Tame Road and installation of a flood gate at the Atlas Industrial Estate entrance. These measures in isolation do not provide a big enough reduction in flood risk, although they did successfully prevent properties from flooding in May 2018, so Phase 2 will provide the necessary flood water storage during a major flood, such as that experienced in 2007.

Along with flood defences and flood management schemes, knowing your flood risk is also important when protecting your family and property from flooding. People can check their risk and register to receive free flood warnings by visiting our page on preparing for flooding or calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

Leicester based Euro Dyers Ltd have been ordered to pay a total of £59,259 after operating an illegal textile dye house in a residential area.

Euro Dyers Ltd pleaded guilty at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 25 July 2018 and were ordered to pay a fine of £40,000, costs of £19,084 alongside a £175 victim surcharge.

The company, who operate at the Saffron Works, Saffron Lane, Leicester had been told on several occasions that they needed an environmental permit to operate. Despite numerous warnings from Environment Agency staff who encouraged and tried to assist them with an application, they never successfully applied for a permit.

A permit would have introduced conditions to manage odour, regulate emissions to air and sewer, the generation of waste, noise pollution and the prevention of accidents. The latter would have been especially important as inspections found flammable liquids stored on top of oxidising chemicals and chemicals stored with no containment to control leaks.

Environment Agency officers also found waste water leaking into a roadside drain outside.

Speaking after the ruling, an Environment Agency officer involved with the investigation said:

Despite several attempts to assist the company and after numerous warnings, this company still refused to be brought into the permitting regime., We hope that this fine will serve as a warning to them and others in the industry that there are strong penalties if they flout the law.

This is great news to the residents who live nearby, the environment and to competitors who do the right thing and comply with the law.

We are committed to working with the industry to ensure they operate legally. However, we will take enforcement action where a company refuses to comply. We make sure the impacts from these sites are controlled in accordance with a permit and that all companies in the industry are operating on a level playing field.

Dyehouse operators across England who do not currently hold an Environmental Permit from the Environment Agency should proactively assess the capacity of their sites to check whether they require a permit. Any company, who finds that their site’s capacity is above the threshold of 10 tonnes per day, should contact the Environment Agency for advice and guidance on their application for a permit.

A rise in ammonia emissions is having a damaging effect on wildlife and habitats, according to the Environment Agency’s first ever report on England’s air quality, published today. The report shows that, unlike other main air pollutants, emissions of ammonia have increased since 2013.

Ammonia deposition can overload land and water with nitrogen; it acidifies soils, natural habitats, and freshwaters. These effects reduce biodiversity in sensitive habitats creating a knock-on effect for our wildflower species, aquatic and insect life. The report shows of England’s nitrogen-sensitive habitats, 95% are affected by nitrogen deposition.

The vast majority of UK ammonia emissions, 88%, come from the agricultural sector as a result of such activities as fertiliser use and slurry storage. Higher concentrations and deposition levels are associated with areas of intensive livestock production, especially dairy and beef.

The Environment Agency is today calling on farmers to take urgent action by changing land management practices and becoming more nitrogen efficient. A new Code of Good Agricultural Practice designed in collaboration with farming organisations, DEFRA and the Environment Agency is being published today to help farmers improve their land management and reduce ammonia emissions.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

Urgent action is needed if we are going to tackle the hidden blight of ammonia emissions. These emissions are having a detrimental impact on the environment, precious habitats and wildlife. As custodians of the land, farmers must take the lead by changing their land management practices.

More broadly, poor air quality is bad for the environment but also people’s health and wellbeing. This report also shows the need to tackle the high levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter that persist in certain areas. Improvement to air quality is going to require action from nations, government at a national and local level, organisations, and communities – but just as importantly – individuals.

Huge improvements in air quality since the 1970s

The report shows the progress made in reducing air pollution over recent decades. Since 1970 in the UK:

• Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions have reduced by 72%
• Particulate matter (PM10) has reduced by 73%.
• Sulphur Dioxide (SO2 ) has reduced by 97%
• Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) have reduced by 66%

These emission come from a range of sources including vehicles emissions and industrial processes. By working with the industries, the Environment Agency has helped to contribute to these reductions and will continue to do so through future regulation.

However, while legal limits are being met for the majority of pollutants, high levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter remain in many urban areas with high concentrations around homes and schools, and are consequently are a major public health concern. Furthermore, under current projections, emission reduction targets for 2030 will not be met for ammonia, NOx, NMVOCs, SO2 and PM2.5 without further action. Particulate matter can have impacts on health even below current legal thresholds.

The Government has moved to address these issues by publishing its Clean Air Strategy. Clean Air is the first of the ten major goals set in the 25 Year Environment Plan, which contains important commitments aimed at curbing emissions from combustion plants and generators, ending the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, and improving industrial emissions further by building on existing good practice and the successful regulatory framework. The Clean Air Strategy is currently out for public consultation until mid- August. To comment please go to the Clean Air Stratgey Consultation