Success for Thames sewage petition!

1.35.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 22nd Mar 2007

A long-awaited government announcement of plans to tackle the sewage situation in the River Thames in line with EU clean water laws has been welcomed by London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Baroness Sarah Ludford, who took a petition to the European Parliament and campaigned successfully for Brussels' intervention.

DEFRA has this morning announced its intention to build a tunnel over 30km long to intercept the regular discharges of raw sewage and transport the waste for treatment in east London.

Sarah said:

"I am delighted that the government has at last seen sense and opted for an effective and durable solution which will bring to an end the 19th century sewage conditions Londoners endure."

"Today's result is a tribute to the untiring work of campaigners in London as well as the organisations which drew up the Thames Tideway Strategic Study and the European Commission."

"On the other hand, it is a bad joke that the government has taken six years and the threat of EU legal action to get to this point."

Note

Sarah Ludford took a petition to the European Parliament in 2005 calling for the massive raw sewage discharges polluting the River Thames to be ended through the building of a long interceptor tunnel, as called for by the Thames Tideway Strategic Study.

This petition and a complaint by the Royal Thames Society stimulated enforcement action by the European Commission. The Commission issued a warning to the UK government in April last year that it would face court action and fines if it failed to show a plan for adequate measures to comply with the relevant EU directive.