EA launches consultation on unlimited fines for the worst polluters
New laws will scrap the cap on civil penalties and significantly broaden their scope to target a much wider range of environmental offences
On 15...
Cloud computing: Ohio derailment damage appraisal grapples with conflicting accounts
As details of its spilled cargo have come gradually to light, the Ohio train derailment has elicited “worst of all time” pronouncements, and a...
Innovation would help find more chemicals in water, say conference speakers
At the British Water Micropollutants Conference 2024, which took place in London on 8 February, keynote speakers from the UK's Environment Agency called for...
Toxic chemical combinations found at over 1,600 river and groundwater sites across England
New analysis of Environment Agency data appears to reveal a worrying level of chemical pollution in rivers and other freshwater sites across England.1 The...
Tannins: A possible answer to microplastic pollution?
Scientists at UBC’s BioProducts Institute find that if you add tannins to a layer of wood dust, you can create a filter that traps virtually all...
Prioritise tackling toxic emissions from tyres, urge experts
A new briefing paper from Imperial College London attempts a deep dive on the pollution produced by the particles sloughed off from vehicle tyres....
Utilities should prepare ahead of mandatory monitoring
Healthier rivers will be one outcome of implementation of the Environment Act 21, writes Darren Hanson of water technology firm Xylem. Now water companies...
Sewage scandal goes to the High Court
On Wednesday 5 to Thursday 6 July, the High Court will hear a legal challenge that aims to force the Government to toughen up...
Call for Thames Water to make swift upgrades to Cassington sewage works after Wolvercote...
Oxford-based Wolvercote Mill Stream - the only official swimming spot on the Thames – has failed bacteria safety tests. Environmental charity Thames21 has warned...
Licence to spill? Legislative status of government’s new plans unclear
River conservation groups reacted with alarm to the news (on 29 August) that the government plans to ease restrictions on developers' need to ensure...
CIP micropollutants research published by UKWIR
Thirteen research reports have just been published, which aim to boost the water sector’s knowledge of microplastics and further the understanding of anti-microbial resistance...
New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their...
The source of pollutants in rivers and freshwater lakes can now be identified using a comprehensive new water quality analysis, according to scientists at...
Cleared for take-off: Valve system smoothes de-icing fluid removal at airport
A new automated shutdown system that helps protect local watercourses has been installed by AUMA Actuators in a wash-down area for de-icing commercial airliners...
Ocean appointment: Fukushima water discharge facilities under construction
A coastal facility will dilute and release wastewater from the former nuclear plant at Fukushima Daiichi, beginning in Spring 2023. Not all dangerous isotopes will be removed, notably Tritium.
UK government’s attempt to loosen nutrient neutrality rules blocked by the House of Lords
The government has lost its bid to scrap nutrient neutrality rules for housing developments, with Labour Lords voting to reject the proposed amendments (to...
Ofwat and the EA must go further: Lords’ report on sewage pollution welcomed by...
How might the water industry be better regulated to reduce the sewage pollution that floods waterways in England and Wales? A report from the...
Striving for environmental balance: nutrient neutrality to futureproof the development pipeline
By Wendy Furgusson, Associate, Environment and Health, Ramboll
With Natural England's recent changes to planning policy causing a reduction in the number of new homes...
