Ian 💙

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Environment Agency accused of 'lip-service' on sewage crisis after downgrading 96% of serious pollution incidents."

Yep you read that correctly, not only has the EA being allowing water companies to mark their own homework they've being joining in the fun down grading the most serious pollution incidents to get them off their books, close the files and hope no-one notices.

Well, they've been caught.

https://t.co/iWiXAHf0z2

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Southern Water apologises after Winchester milestone removed."

So there's a mile stone on the Andover Road just outside Winchester, it's been there for 100s of years, guess who digs it up and then dumps it along with a load of other building waste in the local landfill?

Yep, step forward Southern Water.

https://t.co/ebnmnOoDAn

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"‘They’re a private company, run for profit!’: fury in Kent at South East Water’s outages."

Cam someone please explain to me why South East Water are still in business, how they still have an operating licence and why the public are still be asked to put up with this nonsense?

https://t.co/K6HRsH9UAD

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

The gravy train continues.

Failed former CEO of Ofwat, David Black has reappeared at a consultancy company called BRG where he will "Advise firms and investors across regulated industries as they navigate shifting regulatory frameworks".

His boss? No less than former head of regulation at Thames Water one Colm Gibson.

As @PrivateEyeNews would say "Trebles all round". Well actually that's exactly what they did say. 👇👇👇

[Danny Boy @Care2much18]

Almost 10,000 likes for straight-up lies by Annunziata Rees-Mogg, quote:

"Asylum seekers make up 0.08% of Dorset's population and 44% of alleged sex offences. So unbelievable I had to check. It's true."

It's not true, it's utter garbage.

I'll go through facts and figures. /1

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Ah the old lie "nationalisation will cost billions".

James Murry @jamesmurray_ldn you just told Justin Web @JustinOnWeb on the Today programme @BBCr4today that nationalising the water industry "costs huge amounts of money".

I challenge you sir, prove it, prove a single word of it and if you can't or won't then stop repeating the lie for that's what it is, a lie.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

A strong domestic, clean, safe, non polluting water industry is vital not only for our economy but the very existence of humanity itself, every bill player, customer, voter, every resident of my street, your street, the next street over.

That’s why we’re introducing a Bill... ah, no, sorry, wrong industry... 🤔

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Water boss resigns after multiple supply failures."

The real question is why did shareholders let him stay so long. What say you @NatWestGroup 25% shareholder?

https://t.co/4tq7FRzy7S

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Gibraltar dumping all of its raw sewage into Mediterranean. Wastewater from nearly 40,000 people and businesses pumped straight into sea as island still has no treatment plant."

It just goes from bad to worse. Brilliant exclusive by the equally brilliant @RachSalv

https://t.co/XFXsRAoYkS

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Concern that pellets clean-up 'could take years'."

Remember those millions of plastic beads dumped onto Camber Sands by Southern Water last November, the stuff that contains any number of heavy metals, lead, arsenic, etc.

What's happened since, CEO gone to jail, any directors being prosecuted?

Of course not. It's the EA who's in charge.

https://t.co/9lnqQLfaAV

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Professor Dieter Helm says the company is ‘a textbook case of how not to do public policy’ but potential new owners insist there is a ‘market solution’."

The "market" has been scrabbling about trying to find a solution for Thames Water for at least the last 6 or 7 years, remember Sarah Bentley and her turn around plan, or her 3 point improvement plan, or how heart broken she was about sewage dumping, or Ian Marchant before that, or Steve Robertson before that, and on and on and on....

Dieter is right, it's time for the public to take control and the time to do that is today.

https://t.co/s1fNqRvB6T

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Southern Water admits sewage pollution which occurred weeks after record fine."

In 2021 Southern Water was fined £90,000,000 for illegally dumping sewage into the environment on almost 7,000 separate occasions.

They have now also admitted that for the following 2 years they kept on illegally dumping sewage into Swalecliffe Brook in Whitstable and Faversham Creek causing fish kills and widespread devastation.

Can someone explain to me why the CEO and directors aren't going to jail for this?

https://t.co/wSr8NwpyQM

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

HERE WE GO.

Water testing at Henley-on-Thames revealed E coli levels 10 times above the threshold for safe bathing water.

Govt have refused an application from local community groups to become a designated bathing spot because of the low number of swimmers. I wonder why that is? 🤬

https://t.co/lsvVIRrG4q

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

This is the kind of people who are running our water industry.

No wonder it's in such a mess.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"The 20 UK 'no-go' beaches for swimming this spring revealed - with contaminated waters, sewage and dump waste polluting the sea."

Truly what have we become as a nation when every spring newspapers are having to publish 20 beaches to avoid lists? 🤬

https://t.co/CHqXaNICoA

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

The Hogsmill River is one of just two urban chalk streams in the whole of London and this is what we do to them.... 🤬

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Quite shocking hearing going on right now in parliament.

The totally hopeless South East Water @sewateruk is appearing before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee @CommonsEFRA

This is proper hide behind the sofa, peek through you fingers viewing. Brilliant job by the committee, surgically exposing the contemptuous, arrogant, incompetent way water companies are run.

https://t.co/Rt0zSkR2eP

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

I see govt are out there this morning trumpeting their £8.7 million bribe to river charities.

That's £8.7 million which allowed water companies to walk away from 20 separate criminal prosecutions and by criminal I mean up to 5 years in jail, unlimited fines and the proceeds of crime legislation applies, you can start seizing houses, cars and thing else you think is a proceed of crime.

Take Severn Trent, they've agreed to pay £4.6 million and they get to walk away from 6 separate prosecutions, that's the same Severn Trent that already paid £2 million in 2024, £1.5 million in 2021, and on, and on, and on and they get to walk away.

The Rivers Trust as always only too happy to take the money. Well they do have a £4.4 million payroll bill to look after.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Nail on head time. Today govt announced that 6 water companies are getting to walk away from 20 separate criminal prosecutions, that's up to 5 years in jail, unlimited fines and the proceeds of crime legislation applies, you can start seizing houses, cars etc.

Take Severn Trent, annual revenues £2.4 billion. Today for a payment of £4.6 million they get to walk away from 6 separate prosecutions. Bargain as they say.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

All hail @PrivateEyeNews

Brilliant story about how one of the proposed new owners of Thames Water is offering up a £25 million "Community Benefit Trust" (CBT) to "support" local environment and community groups but only on condition that TW are exempt from environment law and any threat of prosecution for at least the next 5 years.

In other words we'll pay a £25 million bribe to local river groups and charities to shut them up, it's hush money, it's blood money, it's a bride.

The Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP) knows better of course, they've already handed back £135K to Thames Water after they realised they were simply been used and the only people benefiting from the arrangement was Thames Water.

Other river charities would do well to follow ECP's example, don't accept the hush money, don't accept the blood money, it is after all nothing more than a bribe.