Sewage discharges topped 300,000 hours in protected areas in England and Wales last year, data shows
ITV News' Health and Science Correspondent Martin Stew reports, with words by Isabel Alderson-Blench
Almost 1,200 sewage overflow pipes discharged into England and Wales' most sensitive wildlife habitats for over 300,000 hours last year, ITV News can reveal.
Water company data analysed by Unearthed, Greenpeace's investigative unit, showed the extent of sewage spills within 50 metres of areas which the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) defined as "high priority".
These include Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protected Areas (SPA) and Ramsar sites.
"These aren't just any areas across the company," Megan Corton Scott, a Greenpeace UK campaigner, told ITV News.
"These are areas that the government has already agreed are vulnerable and in need of special protection."
Megan Corton Scott told ITV News that authorities are risking the 'breakdown of our natural habitats' in the long-term if the same level of sewage discharges continue
The Lake District, in Cumbria, is one of the worst-affected areas, with sewage pouring into the River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake area of special conservation for more than 6,600 hours last year.
The release of sewage into slow-moving water is dangerous. It can promote blooms of toxic blue-green algae, which can kill fish and aquatic plants, as well as animals that swim in the water or drink it.
Matt Staniek, the founder of the Save Windermere campaign, called the findings "an absolute disgrace".
"Lake systems are so slow. It takes nine months for a drop of water to go from the north of Windermere to the south of Windermere," he told ITV News.
"Because these systems are so slow they essentially capture [the pollution]. A lot of that is now sitting at the bed of Windermere. Decades worth of pollution sat there like a ticking time bomb."
Chichester Harbour and Langstone Harbour are two other affected areas - and both are part of an SSSI, SPA and Ramsar site - a wetland of international importance. In 2022, more than 3,200 hours of sewage poured into the two harbours.
Bianca Carr works with Final Straw to highlight the impact of pollution on marine environments.
"It's just so sad," she told ITV News. "It's so disappointing that people don't see the emergency. We know that we're polluting this harbour, yet nothing really seems to be being done about it."
When sewage is released into natural ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes and harbours, this can lead to higher levels of recreational drugs and human medicines, for example, in the water, which negatively impact the wildlife.
"Those pharmaceuticals do very similar things to wildlife as they do to us," said Professor Alex Ford, who led a study at the University of Portsmouth which found more than 50 chemicals at the Chichester and Langstone Harbour site.
"The contraceptive pill feminises a fish, an antidepressant will change the behaviour of wildlife and a cholesterol altering drug will do exactly that. It could have profound impacts."
Rebecca Dow, Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience said: "It is an absolute priority that we deal with this now. We have brought forward funding for water companies so that they can start doing the work that is necessary."
A Water UK spokesperson said that overflows into sensitive areas would be the among the earliest to benefit from a £10 billion investment program, commenting: "We are going to control those spills right down so that no environmental damage at all is being caused."
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