A blue plaque was unveiled in Liskeard on Saturday, January 28 following a ‘Dirty Water’ protest.
The protest met in Westbourne car park but soon made it’s way to the front of East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray’s office where a ‘theatrical event’ took place to demonstrate the group’s concern over the dumping of raw sewage into the rivers and seas.
A spokesperson from the protest said: “On Saturday a rash of blue plaques were awarded across England. In Liskeard, South East Cornwall MP, Sheryll Murray’s constituency office was not left out. The blue roundel in this instance, however, does not signify positive deeds by a person of note. Instead, it highlights the fact that Sheryll Murray, along with other Conservative MPs, failed to act in a timely manner to resolve an issue that is damaging the aquatic environment beyond repair.
“Rivers are being used as open sewers and a free refuse facility by water companies, landowners, and careless individuals that litter or flush more down the loo.
“Activists, open water swimmers, and those who care for nature and want rivers and bathing waters to be clean and free from sludge, slime, and stench, are becoming increasingly agitated by the inaction from Government on this issue.”
The spokesperson continued: “Horrified that a majority chose to vote against an amendment to the Environment Act, that would have set meaningful targets for water companies to reduce and eliminate so-called storm water overflows and illegal discharges into rivers, citizens gathered in Liskeard to unveil the plaque and voice their concerns.
“The Environment Act required the Government to produce a timeline for resolving this pressing pollution issue. In September 2022 they set an incredibly low bar of preventing 75% of storm overflows by 2035, unless water companies can prove they do no ecological harm. That leaves 25% unaddressed up to as late as 2050, and some serious questions as to how ecological harm can be measured.
“South West Water, has been listed red or significantly below target, for pollution incidents, by the Environment Agency for ten consecutive years. They were awarded only one star for performance in 2021 and have been under investigation by OFWAT, for their shambolic management of sewage treatment since June 2021. The company says it is aiming to reduce harm by one third, by 2025. But this statement, along with the Government’s woolly wording is neither clear in intent nor meaningful to the public.
“Everyone can help alleviate the situation by preventing litter and other objects from getting into sewers and not flushing items such as wet wipes and sanitary towels, even if labelling suggests they can be. But substantial investment in upgrading of the sewage infrastructure will be required of South West Water before rivers and our coastline can be brought back to health.”
In response, MP Sheryll Murray said: “Combined sewage systems mean that rainwater from drains and sewage use the same pipes underground. At times of high rainfall – for example during recent flash flooding – the pipes reach capacity, and to stop sewage escaping into homes and streets, the system was designed to discharge to rivers or the sea via Combined Sewer Overflows.
“These can have significant environmental impacts – and the government took action to regulate and reduce the number of storm overflows in the Environment Act 2021. This required the government to set out a plan by September 1, 2022 to tackle the problem. The plan was published for consultation in March and proposes new mandatory time-bound targets on water companies to stop the environmental harm from sewage overflows.”
When asked if she voted to allow sewage to be pumped into local rivers, Mrs Murray confirmed: “No-one did – in fact MPs voted to increase the restrictions of water companies using overflows. During the passage of the Environment Act through parliament, the Duke of Wellington proposed an amendment to immediately stop the use of sewage overflows. Not only is this practically infeasible without flooding people’s homes with sewage, he hadn’t considered the cost to consumers independent evidence commissioned by the Storm Overflows Taskforce estimated total elimination of overflows could cost up to £600bn. The government agreed an alternative approach, mandating progressive reductions in discharges and agreeing targets that the water companies must achieve, which will be set out in the final plan, which prioritises dealing with the environmental and public health impacts first while also balancing this with the cost to consumers.”
She added: “We’ve had storm overflows in this country for at least 150 years. This is the first government that’s taking action to fix the problem. We’ve already laid the foundations for that with new powers and new responsibilities in the Environment Act last year, and Defra will publish its storm overflow plan this month. We are not letting water companies get away with this and have been repeatedly clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority. Our regulators have also launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges
“This is on top of ambitious action we have already taken, including consulting on targets to improve water quality which will act as a powerful tool to deliver cleaner water, pushing all water companies to go further and faster to fix overflows.”