‘Pay to pollute’ arrangement a national scandal, says Tory Shadow Minister

Martin Shipton

An arguably anomalous arrangement under which Wales’ environmental regulator is paid millions of pounds a year by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water for the right to discharge sewage into waterways has been described as a national scandal by a shadow minister.

Last week Nation.Cymru reported how details of such payments to Natural Resources Wales were released by the water company to Alun Phillips, founder of the charity A Peace of Nature, based at Ogmore-by-Sea in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Mr Phillips asked Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW): “What is the total spend forecast for environmental permits in the coming five years? That is to say, how much will DCWW be paying Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for re-issuing or issuing all environmental permits over the coming five years?”

DCWW estimated a rough total of £32m, but that could rise by a further £25m if fees were raised to match expected increases in England.

Ogmore-by-sea

Mr Phillips submitted his information request following a serious sewage pollution incident at Ogmore-by-Sea in May 2024 that resulted in DCWW advising people not to use the local beach.

DCWW said at the time that “roughly one litre a second” was being discharged into the river, with about half a million litres of polluted water going into the River Ogmore.

Mark Ryan, chairman of Ogmore Angling Association said at the time that some were “wary” of fishing in the area.

He added: “We have told our members to wash and sanitise their hands after fishing. The impact is the river is written off, you can’t fish it. Closer to the treatment works all the grey toxic liquid will have killed everything. We’ve seen a huge downturn in the numbers of salmon and sea trout and it does coincide with the pollution in the river.”

The latest available national data found that DCWW released sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea around Wales for more than 916,000 hours in 2023. The water company recorded 105,943 spills over the year, 93% of which were ranked as “significant”.

‘Appalled’

Wayne Preece, group CEO of Hydro Industries, a Carmarthenshire-based company that helps developing countries secure safe water supplies, said he was appalled to learn from Mr Phillips that NRW was earning millions of pounds from DCWW for the right to discharge water polluted with sewage.

“They call them environmental permits, but in fact the payments to NRW feel like a perverse licence to pollute,” he said.

“There is a clear conflict of interest so far as NRW is concerned. It is supposed to be Wales’ environmental regulator, yet it is selling licences to DCWW so that it can discharge sewage into Wales’ waterways.

“It’s a ridiculous situation and it can’t be allowed to carry on. As things stand, it seems that more permits will be issued, inevitably leading to more pollution.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. There needs to be a concerted effort to end sewage discharges, but that’s unlikely to happen when the water regulator is getting paid millions to enable further pollution.”

Nadia De Longhi, Head of Regulation and Permitting for Natural Resources Wales said: “NRW issues a range of permits to a variety of industries, including water companies, and we cost recover for our service of determining the permit and the compliance activities we need to undertake.

“The environmental permits we issue set conditions for discharges to reduce harm to our rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

“These are regulated robustly by our teams to ensure that permit conditions are complied with and the impact of water company operations on the environment is minimised.

“Fully cost recovering these activities from operators rather than the public purse aligns with the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’ and means we are better able to direct our resources at regulating and protecting the environment of Wales.”

Treasury rules

NRW points out that the principle of full cost recovery is in line with Treasury rules and obligations under the Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 2012.

But Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and the Environment, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, said: “If environmental permits are being misused to grant Dŵr Cymru blank cheques to discharge sewage into our waterways, then this is nothing short of a national scandal.

“With Wales experiencing four times as many sewage discharges proportionally as England, and Dŵr Cymru customers paying the highest water bills in England and Wales, the revelation that these funds may be used to facilitate such discharges is utterly unacceptable.

“I have long argued that Natural Resources Wales is not fit for purpose and must be broken up. This apparent failure to prioritise environmental protection undermines public trust and jeopardises the natural beauty of Wales.”