Latest news with #SteveLavelle
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Activists ‘lack faith' in Northumbrian Water's new pledge to Whitburn
Campaigners have said they have "little faith" in a water firm's commitment to cut pollution at a seafront. Northumbrian Water has agreed to pay out £15.7m after failures in the maintenance and operations of its sewage and water network. As part of this deal, the firm agreed to a "binding commitment" to work with the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure its system at Whitburn, South Tyneside, complied fully with environmental Water said it was "working hard" to improve its waste management process. The BBC previously reported that nearly one million tonnes of raw sewage was estimated to have been released from a pumping station at Whitburn into the North Sea in 2024. The area along the Whitburn coast is part of the Durham special area of figure was released following an Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) request from South Tyneside resident Steve Lavelle. Prof Darren Grocke, a biogeochemist at Durham University, told the BBC that this was "an enormous amount of sewage discharge that will certainly have an impact on the coastal and marine environment".Mr Lavelle said the fact Northumbrian Water had been forced to make such a commitment to the region was a "testament to the perseverance and resilience of campaigners". But he said he had "little faith" in the firm and worried that the EA did not have the resources to challenge the company. The EA has been approached for comment. In a case brought forward by retired engineer Bob Latimer, in 2012 the European Court of Justice ruled that sewage discharge by Northumbrian Water at Whitburn broke EU water treatment laws. He said he appreciated Ofwat's latest investigation but that he lacked confidence in the water firm's new commitment to cutting pollution in the region. Northumbrian Water said it was investing more than £1bn over the next five years to cut the number of spills from storm overflows and to improve "our coasts and rivers". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Estimated 945,000 tonnes of sewage pumped into sea
Nearly one million tonnes of raw sewage is estimated to have been released from a pumping station into the North Sea in 2024. Northumbrian Water produced the figure for releases from its site at Whitburn after an Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) request from South Tyneside resident Steve Lavelle. It calculated 944,673 tonnes of sewage had been pumped into the sea, a slight drop from its number for 2023 of 1.007 million tonnes. But the firm said its figure was just an estimate and "it cannot be relied on". When asked about the 2023 estimate, Northumbrian Water CEO Heidi Mottram told a parliamentary committee earlier this month that the figure was "not necessarily accurate" but was "probably not unreasonable". The one million tonne figure was provided by Northumbrian Water in June 2024 following several unsuccessful Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests from Mr Lavelle. It was only released after a first-tier tribunal ruled the firm had to provide such figures. The area along the Whitburn coast is part of the Durham special area of conservation. Prof Darren Grocke, a biogeochemist at Durham University, said although the figures for 2024 were lower than 2023 it was still "an enormous of sewage discharge that will certainly have an impact on the coastal and marine environment". Prof Charles Tyler, an environmental biologist at the University of Exeter, said it was "extremely difficult" to assess the impacts of raw sewage on ocean wildlife. "But chemicals that are harmful to wildlife are generally found at much higher concentrations in raw sewage compared to the treated effluents discharged into our rivers," he said. "Against a backdrop of uncertainty, the fact that annually almost a million tonnes of sewage continues to be discharged into the North Sea from Whitburn cannot be good for the health of the ocean in that locality." Northumbrian Water said: "We are working very hard to drive down our reliance on storm overflows across the North East." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Sewage data not accurate, water boss tells MPs Estimated million tonnes of sewage pumped into sea Northumbrian Water
