Water firms sewage apology: This apology and plan just don’t go far enough

EMBARGO: 00:01 Thursday 18th May

Responding to England's water companies making a public apology for discharging sewage into rivers and coastlines, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: 

"This apology and plan just don’t go far enough. For years water companies have arrogantly dismissed the public's fears of rivers, lakes and coastlines being damaged by sewage discharges.

“This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEO's being handed multi-million pound bonuses.

"The one apology missing here is from the Environment Secretary.

"This Conservative Government has been pathetic on stopping sewage discharges into rivers, and every Conservative MP owes their constituents an apology for voting against tougher action. It says a lot when profiteering polluters have the decency to apologise, yet the Government refuse.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Embargoed announcement from Water UK:

Water and sewage companies in England apologise for sewage spills and

launch massive transformation programme

• £10 billion - more than triple current levels – ready to be invested in a new National
Overflows Plan, enabling the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era,
and the most ambitious programme on sewage spills in the world.

• A new Environmental hub, launching next year, will for the first time give everyone
near real-time information on overflows, as well as the state of our rivers and coastal
waters.

• Companies will also support up to 100 communities to create new protected waters
for swimming and recreation.