Pollution incidents

• There were over 2.5 thousand observed & substantiated pollution incidents reported in the South West at the end of 2010; 11% of the total reported in England and Wales.  2.7 thousand were reported in 2009, a reduction of 6.3%.

• 11 Category 1 pollution incidents were reported during 2008, 2009 and 2010.  Last year 9 impacted on water, 1 air and 1 the land.

• Agriculture was once again the source of the most serious polluting events, accounting for a quarter of serious Incidents, in the region (Serious incidents are classified as either Category 1 or Category 2 impact pollutions).

• Nationally, the primary polluting source of serious incidents has been identified as being the Waste sector, however within the South West region the primary polluting source is related to the Agricultural sector activity and results from land spreading run off and slurry storage.

Pollution events can cause acute and dramatic changes to the environment. The effect of pollution events on the environment depends on their severity, ranging from minor (Category 3) transient and localised effects to complete devastation (Category 1) which can be immediately catastrophic of short duration, or have a lasting impact for a number of years.

Pollution incidents, which can affect water, air and land, are described in terms of their impact. There are 4 main categories, which are:

• Category 1 (the most serious)

• Category 2 (significant but less severe than category 1)

• Category 3 (minor incidents)

• Category 4 (incidents with no environmental impact)

Members of the public report the majority of pollution incidents through the Environment Agency’s 24-hour pollution hotline – 0800 80 70 60.

The Water Industry sector has also been increasing its rate of Self Reporting over the years, as part of their overall environmental strategy to reduce their environmental footprint. 

There has been a rise in reported pollution incidents over the last 2 years in England and Wales from the lowest reported figures of 19.2 thousand in 2008 to 23.2 thousand in 2010.   However, overall incidents have fallen nearly 22% since 2003.

Similarly there has been a steady reduction in pollution incidents across the South West, with a fall from nearly 4 thousand incidents in 2003 to around 2.5 thousand in 2010; a fall of 36%.  However reported figures did rise to 2.7 thousand last year, though dropped back to 2008 figures in 2010.

In comparison to the other regions in England and Wales, the South West reported the second lowest number of incidents in 2010.  Incidents were highest in the Midlands (4.3 thousand) followed by the North East region (3.3 thousand).

There were 648 serious polluting events in England and Wales; 79 (12%) of these occurred in the South West (Serious incidents are classified as either Category 1 or Category 2 impact pollutions) and a quarter could be attributed to agricultural sources.  However, in England and Wales it is waste management facilities that are responsible for the majority of serious incidents and account for 18%.

There were 91 Category 1 pollution incidents (the most serious type) reported in England and Wales in 2009, last year this fell to 60.  11 Category 1 pollution incidents occurred in the South West during 2010, the same as in 2009.

Agriculture continues to have the most significant number of serious polluting events in the region.  These can be broken down into the types of farm from which the pollution arose:

•  Arable Farms - 1 incident (Category 2)

• Beef Cattle Farms -  3 incidents (one Category 1 two Category 2 incidents)

• Dairy Farms - 14 incident (one Category 1 and 13 Category 2)

• Pig Farm – 1 incident (Category 2)

• Other Sources - 1 incident (Category 2)

Below is the breakdown of pollution incidents in the South West during 2010, where there was some impact on the environment, (Category 1 - 3).

The water industry account for a high proportion of minor pollution [category 3 incidents] but do not now feature as significantly in the more serious incidents.  Some of these would also have been 'self-reported' to the Environment Agency, by the water companies.

Domestic and residential sector pollution incidents are usually caused by incorrect pipe work connections when instead of connecting ‘grey’ water discharges to the foul sewer, they are connected into the surface water system, that should only be carrying rain and roof water runoff.  This type of sporadic discharge is unfortunately only too common in our local urban amenity streams.

• Environment Agency pollution pages