BRISTOL, England (CU)_Farming is one of the major sources of contamination of lakes and waterways in England, and legislation designed to reduce such pollution were implemented four years ago. While violations of these rules have hit record levels, the public body responsible for the protection of the environment has failed take necessary action to prevent them.
Since the legislation was introduced in April 2018, the highest number of violations were recorded last year. This in addition to violations committed by tens of thousands of farms which remain undocumented. Data obtained by the Guardian show that during the 12 months which ended on 31 March 2022, a total of 391 breaches of farming rules were identified. It was a significant increase from the 106 breaches officially recorded in the previous year.
Against this backdrop, environmental groups claim that the growing number of documented breaches, together with the lack of a credible threat of enforcement of the law demonstrate a clear failure by the authorities to protect these fragile ecosystems.
“It makes a mockery of our democracy and the rule of law if polluters are not prosecuted for blatant offences which cause misery and huge costs for many other people and businesses,” Mark Lloyd, the chief executive of the charity Rivers Trust, said. “Agricultural pollution is the principal reason why our rivers are in such poor shape and ministers need to give regulators the resources and the mandate to take action against persistent offenders.”
The farming rules, which were designed to minimize water pollution caused by agriculture, gives the Environment Agency the power to prosecute individuals and organizations which pollute waterways or act in a way that creates a high risk of pollution. The Agency can issue fixed penalties of £100 or £30, as well as ‘variable money penalties’, which can go up to £250,000, under the legislation.
