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Make the penalty for water company sewage dumping punishable by prison

Submitted on Saturday 13th May 2023

Rejected on Thursday 1st June 2023

Current status: Rejected

Rejection code: already-happening (see below for details)

Petition Action

Make the penalty for water company sewage dumping punishable by prison

Petition Details

A law should be enacted whereby chief executives of sewage companies, who currently make excessive profits, can be punished with up to 5 years incarceration for allowing the continual dumping of sewage into Britains waterways.

Additional Information

There is not a river in England that is currently meeting pollution standards. This has an effect on the biodiversity, animal/marine life and is a human public health issue. Good and water contamination with faecal matter is the highest risk factor for a number of diseases. In the current system of financial penalties, these water companies build the fines into their business plan and continue to make profits. There’s is currently no incentive for change, so we need harsher punishment


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This petition was rejected

The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:

Directors of companies can already be imprisoned for environmental offences for up to 5 years. Under the the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, as amended, persons are guilty of an offence if they engage in certain activities (including discharging sewage into the environment) without a permit or in breach of a permit’s conditions. Individuals found guilty on conviction in court can be fined or imprisoned for up to 5 years (regulation 39).

Decisions about investigating and prosecuting environmental offences are a matter for the Environment Agency, and decisions about sentencing for environmental offences are a matter for the courts.

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