Watchdog accused of failing to hold water firms to account over pollution breaches

Watchdog accused of failing to hold water firms to account over pollution breaches EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower claims the Environment Agency has taken "no meaningful enforcement" as figures reveal the most water firms got for pollution breaches were warnings Water companies escaped with no more than a warning from the Environment Agency last year despite inspectors identifying a catalogue of failures, it can be revealed. Inspections of sewage treatment works and other sites in the year to this April uncovered more than 2,200 breaches, including five of the most serious category one and deemed to have a potential "major impact on human health, quality of life or the environment." Despite that, the most the Agency issued were 532 “site warnings” and 1,985 “advice and guidance notices”. It confirmed: “To date, no enforcement notices have been issued or prosecutions taken in relation to inspections carried out in 2025/26.” The discovery was made through a Freedom of Information request submitted by whistleblower Rob Forrester, who used to work for the Environment Agency until earlier this year, and who for years secretly documented its failings. His identity was revealed in Channel 4’s docu-drama Dirty Business, which included the fight by campaigners Ash Smith and Peter Hammond to expose the truth about the scale of sewage pollution. The programme also featured the death of eight year-old Heather Preen in 1999. Heather’s mother, Julie Maughan, believes her daughter contracted E. coli after coming into contact with raw sewage on the beach in Devon. Faced with public fury, the under-fire body Environment Agency increased testing by carrying out more than 10,000 site visits in the past year. The new data revealed, of 10,800 inspections in the year to April, around 4,700 were at sewage treatment works. Mr Forrester claims it meant around 2,500 sewage plants were not visited. While the agency insists it has toughened up its policing of the industry, there are worrying signs that the sewage scandal is worsening. Separate figures obtained by Mr Forrester recently showed that water companies in England are set to record the highest number of serious pollution incidents in at least a decade. They found the firms were responsible for 59 serious incidents, such as toxic sewage or chemical spills, in the first six months of this year. It comes amid anger over “dry spills”. Water companies in England are only permitted to spill sewage into rivers and seas through storm overflows when there has been heavy rainfall. However, figures have shown that firms in England and Wales carried out 8,576 so calls “dry spills” last year, totalling 14,873 days. Mr Forrester claimed the latest data on inspections “shows water companies have proved themselves to not be stupid enough to dump sewage when the Environment Agency are due to visit.” He added: “Given there has been no meaningful enforcement, and any works are to be done voluntarily, it seems the Agency never intended to hold water companies to account. “The fact that sewage pollution has increased significantly from 2025 to 2026 shows that not only have the increased inspections had no effect, they have given confidence to water companies that they can pollute with impunity.” An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We target our toughest scrutiny at those posing the greatest risk of pollution and are raising standards across the water industry by instructing water companies to make thousands of improvements, such as repairing sewage works and upgrading infrastructure. We will continue to hold water companies to account where performance falls short." It added that last year saw a record £8.5million in enforcement undertakings against water companies. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our water industry has not been working for people for far too long and we have already taken action against water companies who are failing to perform, making it a criminal offence to cover up illegal sewage spills. “But this government is going further, bringing in tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability, so water companies deliver for customers and the environment.”