Denton MP Andrew Gwynne has called on the government to stop raw sewage being dumped into the River Tame.

Data from the Rivers Trust shows that in the North West, United Utilities were responsible for 2,273 reported sewage overflows in 2020, which each lasted on average for six hours.

In Denton and Reddish, there were a total number of 21 storm overflows counted with over 1600 individual spill incidents counted.

Andrew Gwynne MP said: “It is quite frankly outrageous that the Government is not taking this situation seriously. People across Denton and Reddish just want their local rivers to be free from raw sewage – is that really so much to ask?

“It makes rivers unsafe to swim in, damages precious river habitats, and the Government should be taking firm and robust action to force water companies to stop this dreadful practise. We don’t have time for more dither and delay.”

In the last year alone, raw sewage was discharged into UK rivers and seas over 400,000 times. There were 2,941 discharges into UK coastal bathing waters during the May-September bathing season alone, severely impacting coastal communities. The UK is ranked last in the EU for bathing water quality. No UK rivers are in a healthy condition, with none meeting good chemical standards and only 14% meeting good ecological standards.

United Utilities responded, saying that the release helps to stop flooding.

A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “During storm conditions, when sewers and treatment plants are operating at full capacity, we are permitted to spill excess storm water from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to help prevent the flooding of streets, homes and businesses.

“Over the past twenty years, United Utilities has invested £1.2bn improving CSOs to reduce the amount and impact of spills. We stand ready to invest further in our rivers to help bring about the transformation we all want to see. But for this investment, we’re calling on Government and Ofwat to match our ambition at the next price review.

“The water industry’s recent report sets out ten key steps necessary to achieve the radical changes we all want. We’re asking government to bring forward legislation in a new Rivers Act to provide greater protection for rivers. The Environment Agency estimates that CSOs lead to around 30 per cent of river and sea pollution in the North West, with the remaining 70 per cent due to other causes, such as rain running off highways and farm land, and private drainage being incorrectly connected. So, without everyone working together, we simply won’t get this radical change.”

In the recent series of votes on the Environment Bill, Labour MPs voted to end the routine discharge of raw sewage into rivers and seas. Conservative MPs were whipped to vote against the cross-party amendment tabled by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords. The amendment was defeated and raw sewage can continue to be discharged into rivers as a result.

The amendment to ban the release of raw sewage has now returned to the House of Lords and MPs are expected to vote on the proposal to end sewage discharges again in the coming weeks.  The Government have attempted to placate the public outcry that followed the vote by pledging to ‘secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows’. Gwynne is currently self-isolating with COVID-19 so was unable to vote in the Environment Bill (but was paired so that his vote wasn't lost) and stated that the Government’s partial U-turn doesn’t go far enough.

Luke Pollard MP, Shadow Environment Secretary said: “People are right to be upset at the dreadful state of England’s rivers. Not one English river is in a healthy condition and there has been zero improvement since 2016.

“The Government is to blame for allowing water companies to vent raw sewage into our rivers and seas seemingly at will. The Conservatives should urgently U-turn on their decision to block the Environment Bill amendment so that water companies are forced to reduce the amount of sewage they pump into our rivers and seas.

“The Tories should learn from the record and experience of the Welsh Labour government who have been able to require sustainable drainage systems to reduce the load on sewage systems and make investing to tackle future challenges a top priority.”

Read more from the Tameside Reporter

Click here for more of the latest news

Click here to read the latest edition of the paper online

Click here to find out where you can pick up a copy of the paper