National Press Office
- 11-Feb-2008 - Construction and maintenance
companies who work in or near watercourses
are being reminded today (today) that pollution
incidents are avoidable by careful planning.
The call comes as new
pollution prevention guidelines are published
by the Environment Agency.
Steve Wenham, Technical
Advisor at the Environment Agency, said:
“In 2006 the construction and demolition
industry was responsible for 271 pollution
incidents causing environmental damage,
of which 123 were to water. Of these, 18
incidents were serious causing significant
damage to watercourses.
“These incidents are
not only damaging to our environment, but
it can leave the responsible company with
an expensive clean up bill. Under the law
those who pollute our environment have to
pay the clean up costs.
“Where there has been
serious pollution, the Environment Agency
will prosecute which can lead to heavy fines.
So following these good practice guidelines
will help you reduce the likelihood of an
incident and such action. The guidelines
offer some simple steps companies can take
to assess the potential impact of their
work and identify preventative action they
can take to protect our environment."
Construction works near
watercourses which include lakes, reservoirs
and canals can cause pollution by silt,
oil and chemical spills. Also poor waste
management can have a major impact on the
water environment – for example, improper
storage of hazardous wastes like oils and
solvents could lead to it escaping into
water.
The new Pollution Prevention
Guidelines (PPG) provides advice, useful
references and links relevant websites on
topics such as:
Pollution Prevention
Planning – most pollution incidents are
avoidable by careful planning.
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) – controlling
surface water runoff.
Safe use of concrete and cement – can lead
to serious pollution as it is alkaline and
corrosive.
Oil and chemical storage and use – legal
requirements apply on how they are stored.
Safe herbicide use – written approval for
use near waters is needed.
Waste management – advice on Site Waste
Management Plans.
Pollution incident response – planning for
incidents and who to call.
The Environment Agency, which regulates
business and industry in England and Wales,
has worked together with the Scottish Environmental
Protection Agency and Northern Ireland’s
Environment and Heritage Service on producing
these guidelines.
You can download “PPG5
– Works and maintenance in or near water“
free of charge from the link on the left
or by calling 08708 506506.
+ More
St Ives Flood Defence
Scheme Tree Work
Mike Dunning - 12-Feb-2008
- The Environment Agency is having to cut
back and trim several trees growing alongside
the River Stennack in St Ives near part
of the town’s flood defence scheme.
The trees, in front
of Rosewall Cottages, are causing structural
damage to a retaining wall and need to be
reduced in size. If left unchecked, the
trees could cause further damage and the
wall could collapse into the river causing
localised flooding.
After taking expert
advice, the Agency and its contractors will
cut several large elm and sycamore trees
to their base. Over time they will send
up fresh shoots. The smaller trees will
be left untouched.
The trees are growing
along a 50 metre length of river bank close
to the retaining wall. A special effort
has been made to retain a large elm tree
at the end of the row. By using specialised
techniques during the construction of a
section of the flood defence scheme, the
Agency has strengthened this part of the
stream wall without sacrificing this large
tree.
‘We appreciate the attachment
many people have with these trees, but unfortunately
they are starting to cause a problem. As
the trees increase in size, so does the
problem and we have no choice other than
to taken action to minimise any structural
damage to the wall below,’ said Fiona Geddes
for the Agency.
‘The aim is to minimise
any future damage to the wall while maintaining
a vegetated bank with healthy but smaller
trees. The tree roots help hold the bank
together so we are not seeking to remove
the trees. Every effort will be made to
keep any losses to a minimum while ensuring
we deliver an effective flood defence scheme
for St Ives,’
Contractors started
the tree management work this week. The
£10 million St Ives Flood Defence
Scheme is due to be completed summer 2008.
+ More
Time and South FM stations
are official Environment Agency flood warning
partners
Tim Abbott - 11-Feb-2008
- The Environment Agency signed up a trio
of local radio stations this week as official
media ‘flood warning’ partners.
When the Environment
Agency is expecting weather conditions to
lead to flooding it issues a series of alerts
known as flood watches and flood warnings
directly to the public by text, phone, fax
or email, as well as via local media.
As Time 106.8FM and
107.5FM and South 107.3FM broadcast to a
wide range of listeners, reaching homes
and businesses in boroughs including Bexley,
Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Barking
and Dagenham, and Havering, it is hoped
that the Environment Agency’s messages will
be heard far and wide.
In each region managed
by the Environment Agency, teams of staff
plan the way that the area should respond
to flooding, both from the point of view
of preparing for and reacting to events.
Forecasting for fluvial rivers in the south
east and north east of the Thames region
take place in Reading at the Environment
Agency’s Flood Forecasting Centre, where
an extensive network of rain and river gauges
are monitored and a variety of forecasting
techniques are used to predict what is expected
to happen. The tidal element of the River
Thames is monitored at the Thames Barrier
Control Room. If rivers are forecast to
come out of banks or flood properties, Flood
Watches or Warnings are issued by the Flood
Incident Management teams.
Louise Guy, flood incident
technical specialist for the South East
Thames region said:
“Listeners in the Time
and South catchment could be affected by
flooding from many different sources. In
particular the River Ravensbourne which
rains through Catford, Lewisham and Feltham
is a rapidly responding river which changes
very quickly due to the urban concrete environment.
The water cannot soak away and as such surface
water draining can be a problem in this
area as well as flooding from the river
itself. The Beam (known as the River Rom
in its upper reaches) and the Ingrebourne
are less ‘flashy’ as they flow through some
areas of open land and fields which means
the water has more chance to disperse.”
Eamonn Forde, who manages
flood risk in the Time 106.8FM and 107.5FM
and South 107.3FM catchment said: “The River
Thames is defended to a very high standard
and the Thames Barrier and its associated
gates are part of these defences. When there
is a significantly high tide combined with
a surge in water levels coming up the Thames
estuary, we close the Thames Barrier to
protect central London.
“The Barrier has no
individual trigger level for closure. Hydrological
and meteorological data from the Met Office
is fed to our control room by telemetry
and is used in our own forecasting models.
The decision to close is based on three
major factors: the height of the tide in
the Thames estuary, the tidal surge, which
naturally accompanies each tide and the
flow entering the tidal Thames, which is
measured as it passes over Teddington weir.
Closure of all ten gates takes just under
one and a half hours. The gates then remain
closed until the water level downstream
of the Thames Barrier has reduced to the
same level as upstream.”
Sukhi Lit, station manager
for Time and South FM said: “This media
partnership with the Environment Agency
will mean that we are able to provide up-to-the-minute
information about flooding, as well as getting
a much better idea of the challenges that
face our listeners at home and at work as
they learn to deal with flooding.”
The Environment Agency
is encouraging as many people as possible
to sign up to Floodline on 0845 988 1188
to protect their homes and businesses from
flooding.
