The new statistics found that sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish for 207,013 hours in one year. The worst offenders were South West, Southern Water and Anglian Water. There are fears this could happen again this year. Some of England’s best-known fishing grounds have been tainted by sewage, raising fears that shellfish could be contaminated. The largest wastewater discharge event into shellfish water last year took place in Morecambe Bay by United Utilities, lasting 5,000 hours. However, Environment Agency data shows the sewage monitor was only working 15% of the time, meaning the figure could be much higher. In Sussex, Southern Water pumped sewage into Chichester Harbor for 4,996 hours in a single overflow. The Lib Dems called for a sewage tax on water companies, pointing out that companies pumping sewage into lakes and rivers made profits of more than £2.8bn, with large sums in dividends for shareholders and bonuses for executives. They say the tax on their profits will generate a fund worth hundreds of millions to prevent sewage from polluting rivers. Tim Farron, Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: “England’s precious shellfish, our prawns, lobsters, lobsters and crabs, are the forgotten victims of this environmental scandal. “Last week we saw our beaches closed because of these polluting water companies. At the same time, they make billions of pounds in profits and give their CEOs impressive bonuses. Honestly, the whole thing stinks. “Conservative MPs voted against the ban on sewage disposal. This means that right now the water companies are still pumping disgusting sewage into the shellfish’s homes.” The shellfish industry has recently been hit by sewage pollution. The Whitstable Oyster Festival, arguably England’s biggest celebration of the bivalve, has been marred by sewage fears in 2021 after patrons fell ill with suspected poisoning. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Earlier this year, director of the Whistable Oyster Company, James Green, spoke about the effect the sewage discharge was having on the industry. He said: “After the first spill event at the end of June, for the next three months we had almost zero sales as every time we tried to open, there was another spill event and associated norovirus cases.” He said sales had recovered after the incidents, but asked: “How will Southern Water compensate both the industry and the people who will lose their jobs if the use of combined sewer overflows continues on a regular basis due to a lack of investment in infrastructure?” Southern Water said at the time that the sources of bacteria entering the sea were “many and varied” and not just from its discharges. A spokesman for Water UK, which represents water companies, said: “Water companies agree that there is an urgent need for action to tackle the damage caused to the environment by leaks from storm surges and sewage treatment works. They are investing over £3 billion to improve overflows as part of a wider national program to improve the environment between 2020 and 2025. “However, companies want to go further, faster and are pushing to be able to spend more and streamline processes so that investment can be quickly targeted where it is most needed. Any new investment must be matched by government action on the increasingly leaky wet wipes and urban creepers. “Water companies cannot do this alone and so we are also calling on government, regulators, water companies, agriculture and other sectors to come together as soon as possible to deliver a comprehensive national plan that will deliver the transformation of rivers and waterways that we all want to see.”
