According to the British " Guardian " report on the 25th, three French members of the European Parliament recently stated that the UK's discharge of untreated sewage into the English Channel and North Sea is threatening human health, marine life and fisheries. They accuse the UK of not complying with international environmental regulations and reneging on international obligations after "Brexit", and ask the European Commission to seek "political and legal" measures to stop this pollution.
The three MPs are Pierre Karlskind, chairman of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament, Nathalie Loiseau, the former French Minister of European Affairs, and Stephanie Yoncourtin, who is also a member of the Normandy region. Three people have written to the European Commission in Brussels stating that the UK's decision to lower wastewater discharge standards is "unacceptable" and that action must be taken to stop it polluting the English Channel and North Sea.
The letter, titled "British pollution of English Channel and North Sea waters", reads: "Since Brexit the UK has exempted itself from responsibility for complying with ( EU ) environmental rules. We are concerned that our relationship with the UK The quality of seawater in shared waters is being negatively impacted, affecting marine biodiversity, fisheries and shellfish farms."
Marine conservation group Surfers Against Sewage protested in the streets. Source: "The Guardian"
The letter pointed out that since January last year, the UK is no longer bound by EU rules, but as part of the "Brexit" agreement, the UK signed a business and cooperation agreement, and the UK is still It is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates the protection and maintenance of the marine environment. "Despite this, the UK has chosen to lower water quality standards. This is unacceptable, It also calls into question the efforts of EU member states over the past 20 years. The UK should be committed to protecting the waters around it and that we share.โ
Yong Curtin also tweeted: โThe English Channel and the North Sea are not garbage dumps. "
"The Guardian" pointed out that the British drainage system has always been a combined drainage system, which means that rainwater and sewage from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens are transported to the sewage treatment plant through the same pipes. During heavy rains, especially when the ground is too dry to absorb excess water, combined rainwater and sewage overflow can occur. To prevent raw sewage from flooding homes, roads and other open spaces, sewage is temporarily discharged into the sea and rivers. While the phenomenon is supposed to be extremely uncommon, marine conservation group Surfers Against Sewage noted that dozens of beaches in England and Wales had pollution warnings following last week's heavy rain.
In June this year, Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer of England, Jonson Cox, Chairman of the British Water Agency (Ofwat), and Emma Howard-Boyd, Chairman of the British Environment Agency (EA), on the British government website The joint article pointed out that the data showed that the overflow phenomenon was "not uncommon."
"In some cases, as many as 200 overflows occur a year," the article reads. "This is clearly unacceptable from a public health perspective. For governments and regulators, this is a A serious public health problem."
(Editor: ZLQ)
