Urban rivers ‘vulnerable’ to pollution, MP warns after ‘massive’ spill

Urban rivers are “especially vulnerable” to pollution, an MP has warned after thousands of litres of oil spilled into an English chalk stream.

The Environment Agency launched an eight-day emergency response to the River Wandle oil spill, an incident which Bobby Dean described as “not a one-off”.

Early reports suggested that on February 18, around 4,000 litres of oil spilled into surface water drains and in turn the river – which flows between Croydon and the River Thames at Wandsworth in London.

Speaking in Westminster Hall, Mr Dean said that authorities have a “poor understanding” of what the road drainage network looks like, so they do not necessarily understand what impact fuels have in rivers.

Water minister Emma Hardy said the Environment Agency is investigating the spill and its causes.

Mr Dean told MPs in Westminster Hall: “This incident is not a one-off but just an example of the sort of threat that the River Wandle faces every day.”

The Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington later added that “this kind of pollution happens every single day, and that’s not by accident but by design”, warning that road drains make “an urban river like the Wandle especially vulnerable to these kinds of incidents”.

He said: “What goes down those drains can end up in our river, and if you think about a massive diesel spill like this, think about all the types of pollutants that are running off that road network into our river every single day.

“And at the moment we have a lack of monitoring, so we don’t really know what damage that’s having.

“We have a poor understanding of what that network looks like, which drains connect directly into the river, which ones go via the sewage treatment works, we don’t know really the answer to that.”

Mr Dean said “people realised that their toilets are plumbed into the river” when they saw footage of raw sewage in rivers, adding: “The latest episode in the Wandle is one which I think will hopefully raise public awareness about the fact that it’s also the drains on their streets that are plumbed into the river, too.”

He asked: “Can the minister advise on how we can coordinate these multiple stakeholders’ investigations into a sort-of single, independent inquiry?”

He also asked whether the Government would use the “polluter pays” principle, with any fines going into River Wandle improvements rather than a general fund.

Responding, Ms Hardy said that London Fire Brigade arrived on the scene of the spill at 8.19am, with the Environment Agency called at 8.32am.

She said officers from the agency arrived by 10am to begin their assessments, and authorities remained on the scene until February 26.

“The incident response has concluded on Wednesday February 26, they sent their final updates to partners on February 26, and what’s happened now is they’re in the investigation phase,” the minister said.

Ms Hardy said the Environment Agency had several “enforcement options”, including warnings and prosecutions, which will “really depend on the assessment” which officials make.

She said she agreed with the “polluter pays” model, adding: “The Environment Agency can recover costs from emergency incidents through section 161 of the Water Resources Act, so any costs to the Environment Agency through doing this enforcement work, all of that money can be recovered.”

Ms Hardy also said the Independent Water Commission would look at the issue of road runoff, as part of an ongoing review led by Sir Jon Cunliffe.