Angling association overseeing the once-thriving fishery of Costa Beck launches legal action over the Environment Agency’s (EA) failure to curb Yorkshire Water sewage spills
Pollution evidence in the spring-fed river.
The angling association overseeing the once-thriving grayling and brown trout fishery of Costa Beck, but which is now devoid of fish, has launched a launched a legal action over the Environment Agency’s (EA) failure to curb Yorkshire Water sewage spills.
In tandem with Fish Legal, Pickering Fishery Association has issued an application for Judicial Review over the Environment Agency’s failure to stop pollution under the Water Framework Directive. The watercourse is “failing” under its Water Framework Directive designation, despite it being the focus of extensive Environment Agency-led habitat improvement in recent years.
20 years ago, the river was set to be at ‘good ecological status’ by 2027. However, a sewage treatment works run by Yorkshire Water repeatedly spills sewage into the Beck. In 2019 raw sewage entered the river 400 times. In 2020, it spilt raw sewage into the river 250 times. The Environment Agency say that sewage pollution is one of the reasons why fish are failing in the river.
Fish Legal states: “We think the Environment Agency had a legal obligation to review and update the (self-evidently inadequate) permits supposedly controlling the polluting discharges on the Costa Beck every six years, and that DEFRA should not have approved updated plans for the river – as it did in December – unless that had been done. We are asking the High Court whether they agree”.
Pickering Fishery Association has been battling against Environment Agency inaction for years. Now they believe it’s time to shine a light on where it has all gone wrong, but it comes with a warning from Fish Legal over accessing the information over sewage spills.
It says: “This case relied on analysis of environmental information obtained directly from a privatised water company. But the Government is currently considering taking away the public’s right to this information”.
Whilst fighting the cause for Pickering Fishery Association, Fish Legal warns the public that if they want to help continue to hold private water companies to account, then supporting its campaign to retain these regulations is very important.
It has launched a petition calling for the Government to protect the public right to access environmental information held by private water companies, and over 21,000 people have now signed it.