A Toxic 'Sewage Sludge' is Covering Britain's Crops in Microplastics - Then Flowing Into Our Rivers
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A toxic cocktail of chemicals is being spread on British farmland due to a near-total lack of rules on what farmers can put on their crops, campaigners warn today.
Environmentalists including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the former Chair of the Environment Agency Emma Howard Boyd and the campaign group, Fighting Dirty have joined forces to demand that the Government regulates the use of 'sewage sludge' to prevent toxic run-off further polluting Britain's dying waterways.
Currently, the great majority of so-called sewage sludge is either sold or given to farmers by water companies to use as "fertiliser".
Fighting Dirty says that while it contains useful nutrients, as a result of "shocking regulatory failure", it also contains a cocktail of highly toxic chemicals, including dioxins, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
A report commissioned by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2017 found that, as a result, English crops were contaminated with such chemicals at "levels that may present a risk to human health". It stated that further contaminants in sewage sludge, including microplastics, could result in "soils becoming unsuitable for agriculture".
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Despite promising urgent resolution since 2017, a court case by Fighting Dirty exposed that the EA was hampered by delays and a lack of "Ministerial appetite" preventing them from removing the 'exempted' status of sewage sludge, bringing it into a permitting regime that would see it treated like other industrial waste.
Now campaigners, and a former Environment Agency chief, is pressuring the Government to act.
Ministers could direct the Environment Agency to update the decades-old rules for testing and regulating sewage sludge and other wastes spread on land, avoiding toxins from poisoning our environment and our bodies.
The demand is backed by top environmental organisations including Friends of the Earth, Soil Association and CPRE. It also has the backing of notable environmentalists active in this field, including Guy Singh-Watson, farmer and Founder of Riverford, and Caroline Lucas, the former Leader of the Green Party.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, one of the signatories to an open letter to the Government, said: "This issue should and could have been sorted out years ago. The experts at the Environment Agency knew something needed to be done, the crew at Fighting Dirty knew something needed to be done when they took the EA to court and today we're showing a wide range of serious environmental organisations across the UK also know that something needs to be done.
"All we're missing now is that political steer. A swipe of the pen from [environment secretary] Steve Reed [would] allow the Environment Agency to do their job. So come on Labour - time to do the right thing to start clearing this mess up."
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Notably, Emma Howard Boyd CBE, former Chair of the Environment Agency, is also a signatory. She described the current rules as "decades-old" and "not fit for purpose."
"The Environment Agency has recommended a course of action - to modernise regulations in line with the latest science and environmental health concerns. But it needs the UK Government to act for this to happen. This would then free up the EA to fo...
For digital and print editions, packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, features, and columns….
SUBSCRIBE
A toxic cocktail of chemicals is being spread on British farmland due to a near-total lack of rules on what farmers can put on their crops, campaigners warn today.
Environmentalists including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the former Chair of the Environment Agency Emma Howard Boyd and the campaign group, Fighting Dirty have joined forces to demand that the Government regulates the use of 'sewage sludge' to prevent toxic run-off further polluting Britain's dying waterways.
Currently, the great majority of so-called sewage sludge is either sold or given to farmers by water companies to use as "fertiliser".
Fighting Dirty says that while it contains useful nutrients, as a result of "shocking regulatory failure", it also contains a cocktail of highly toxic chemicals, including dioxins, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
A report commissioned by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2017 found that, as a result, English crops were contaminated with such chemicals at "levels that may present a risk to human health". It stated that further contaminants in sewage sludge, including microplastics, could result in "soils becoming unsuitable for agriculture".
ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE
Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.
PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR
PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH
MORE OPTIONS
We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.
Despite promising urgent resolution since 2017, a court case by Fighting Dirty exposed that the EA was hampered by delays and a lack of "Ministerial appetite" preventing them from removing the 'exempted' status of sewage sludge, bringing it into a permitting regime that would see it treated like other industrial waste.
Now campaigners, and a former Environment Agency chief, is pressuring the Government to act.
Ministers could direct the Environment Agency to update the decades-old rules for testing and regulating sewage sludge and other wastes spread on land, avoiding toxins from poisoning our environment and our bodies.
The demand is backed by top environmental organisations including Friends of the Earth, Soil Association and CPRE. It also has the backing of notable environmentalists active in this field, including Guy Singh-Watson, farmer and Founder of Riverford, and Caroline Lucas, the former Leader of the Green Party.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, one of the signatories to an open letter to the Government, said: "This issue should and could have been sorted out years ago. The experts at the Environment Agency knew something needed to be done, the crew at Fighting Dirty knew something needed to be done when they took the EA to court and today we're showing a wide range of serious environmental organisations across the UK also know that something needs to be done.
"All we're missing now is that political steer. A swipe of the pen from [environment secretary] Steve Reed [would] allow the Environment Agency to do their job. So come on Labour - time to do the right thing to start clearing this mess up."
Don't miss a story
SIGN UP TO EMAIL UPDATES
Notably, Emma Howard Boyd CBE, former Chair of the Environment Agency, is also a signatory. She described the current rules as "decades-old" and "not fit for purpose."
"The Environment Agency has recommended a course of action - to modernise regulations in line with the latest science and environmental health concerns. But it needs the UK Government to act for this to happen. This would then free up the EA to fo...
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