Thousands of pollution incidents in England downgraded without site visit, data suggests

"Of these, 2,735 (98%) were downgraded to minor incidents by officials, FoI data shows. Officers only attended 496 of these before downgrading the pollution event; the rest were deemed minor events on water company evidence alone, the data suggests. This represents nearly a 1,500% increase on the 174 downgrades in 2021, of which 60 were attended."

"There is a significant increase in the serious incidents received by the agency but a huge increase in them being downgraded with no attendance by an officer, said Forrester. The key thing is that water companies are still controlling our attendance. As an officer with 21 years' experience I saw it change from 12 to 15 years ago when we would actually get out on site, and we were encouraged to protect, investigate and enforce."

"For the 2025-26 financial year, the EA expects to receive approximately 149m in income from water companies through permit charges and a new enforcement levy, out of a 189m total budget for water regulation. But Forrester said this model of water companies paying for the budget of agency enforcers created a conflict of interest."

The Environment Agency downgraded thousands of serious pollution incidents reported by water companies in England during 2024 without conducting investigations. Freedom of information data reveals that of 2,778 serious incidents reported, 2,735 were downgraded to minor incidents, with only 496 receiving site visits before downgrading. This represents a dramatic increase from 2021, when 174 incidents were downgraded with 60 attended. The agency officially recorded only 75 serious incidents from the initial reports. A whistleblower with 21 years of experience attributes this pattern to water companies controlling agency attendance and a conflict of interest created by the EA's funding model, where water companies contribute approximately 149 million of the agency's 189 million budget for water regulation.

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