In 4 Years, UK Environment Agency Downgraded 93% Of Most Serious Pollution Prosecutions
England’s Environment Agency has downgraded 93% of prosecutions for serious pollution over four years, despite recommendations from frontline staff for the perpetrators to face the highest sanction, a leaked report seen by the Guardian reveals. Between April 2016 and December 2020, investigators within the agency gathered evidence and prepared case files on 495 serious incidents, involving the worst type of pollution of rivers and coastal waters as well as serious waste crimes, according to the internal document.
They recommended that the agency prosecute in all the cases. But the document shows that after intervention by managers just 35 cases were taken forward to prosecution, the rest being dealt with via a lower sanction such as a warning letter, or dropped all together and marked for no further action.
Officers investigating the highest categories of waste pollution, including those perpetrated by individuals involved in serious organised crime, recommended prosecution in 386 cases. But only 4% of cases were pursued, while the rest were downgraded to a caution, enforcement notice or warning letter, or marked for no further action. The scale of dropped prosecutions was revealed as the government claimed it was engaged in a crackdown on waste criminals.
EDIT
The information supports claims from within the EA that it has been cut back to such an extent investigating pollution incidents has been deprioritised and the regulator was no longer a deterrent to polluters. The report suggests that EA officials will be ignoring serious waste crime involving organised crime group. Recent instructions to staff, according to a previous Guardian report, are to ignore pollution incidents that are considered lower level; so-called category 3 and 4 incidents.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/02/environment-agency-england-downgrading-prosecutions-serious-pollution-leaked-report