Environment Agency data shows Tory sewage scandal sullies Chesterfield with a new sewage dumping event taking place nearly three times a day on average.

Labour’s analysis of Environment Agency figures have revealed that, in 2022, raw sewage was discharged into Chesterfield for 3873 hours in the year, the equivalent of there being a continuous flow of sewage taking place for a staggering 5 months of the year. 

The data also shows that nationally since 2016, a new sewage dumping event has taken place an average of every two-and-a-half minutes, with rivers, lakes, seas, and beaches having faced a staggering 1,276 years’ worth of raw sewage over just a seven-year period.  

A Parliamentary Question tabled by Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon, revealed that the Conservative Government has failed to conduct any economic assessments of the impact of sewage pollution on tourism trade and businesses. 

At the end of last year, the Labour Party revealed that sewage discharges more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 35.4 in 2019, coinciding with current Environment Secretary Therese Coffey’s decision to cut funding for environmental protection, during her tenure as Water Minister. 

These new revelations on sewage dumping come as Coffey continues to face significant pressure after a troubled start to her new role, having broken the Government’s own statutory deadline for publishing water quality targets; announced a 36-year delay to cleaning-up waterways and told Parliament that meeting polluting water bosses wasn’t her priority. 

Last September, during Labour Party Conference, Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon announced that a future Labour Government would implement measures that would force water companies to clean up their act and progressively end sewage dumping and the culture of water companies treating our natural environment as an open sewer.  

Toby Perkins MP said: 

“When this Tory Government blocked Labour’s plan in 2021 to amend the Environment Bill, which would have eliminated sewage dumping, they chose the side of polluting water bosses over local communities and the protection of our lakes, rivers and oceans. 

“The Government’s approach in letting companies dump their waste wherever and whenever they want means the Tories are continuing to ruin wildlife, disrupt tourism and treat our communities like sewers.  

“Only a Labour government will bring in the robust legislation to put an end to this scandal and restore ambitious targets on water pollution reduction, both for local economies and local environments”. 

Jim McMahon OBE MP, Shadow Environment Secretary said:  

“That the Tories have allowed villages, towns, and cities across the country to be treated as open sewers shows that they have no respect for places where people live, work and holiday. 

 “Communities should be able to just enjoy the place where they live without having to worrying about encountering filthy raw sewage.  

  “The next Labour Government will end the Tory sewage scandal, delivering mandatory monitoring on all sewage outlets, introducing automatic fines for discharges, setting ambitious targets for stopping systematic sewage dumping and ensuring that water bosses are held to account for negligence.”