You can contact DEFRA:
Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
CCU 4th Floor
Ergon House
Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 2AL
Email: helpline@defra.gsi,gov.uk
Website: www.defra.gov.uk
Thanks!
Friday 30 March 2012
"Love Your River" - a new initiative
from Waterscape
Do you love your river?
30th Mar 2012
How much do you love your local river? Enough to make changes to your lifestyle to protect it? That's the question being asked of everyone following the launch of a groundbreaking campaign to raise public awareness about the link between the health of our rivers and our own water use.
The ‘Love Your River’ campaign is being launched and backed by Defra, the National Trust, the Environment Agency, the Wildlife Trusts, Keep Britain Tidy, water companies and Waterwise, to promote the value and benefits of our rivers to our everyday life.
The need to protect our rivers has become more urgent in light of droughts being declared in various parts of the country, with some of southern Yorkshire joining the list of drought affected areas this week.
The campaign will concentrate on the issues that affect rivers and encourage people to think about:
• how the water we use in our homes or businesses affects the water in our local river;
• how the pollutants we dump down our drains harms our local water;
• the fact that there is likely to be less water available for people and businesses in the future and the knock-on effect this will have on the natural world around the river; and
• how we could get by with less in the event of drought measures in our areas.
Celebrating the importance of rivers
The ‘Love Your River’ campaign is not just about educating people about the difficulties that many rivers face. It is also about celebrating the importance of rivers to local people – for their health, well-being, leisure and sport. It’s about recognising the great work that local groups already do to look after their rivers. It’s about honouring the community spirit and the inspirational individuals who give up their time and energy to improve their local environment.
Speaking from the River Itchen at the launch of the ‘Love Your River’ campaign, Rivers Minister Richard Benyon said:
“We all love our rivers. They are the lifeblood of our country. They’ve shaped our landscape, and our towns and cities have been designed around them. They are vitally important for our everyday lives and our environment, and we’ve all got a role to play in making sure our rivers are as healthy as they can be.
“I hope the ‘Love Your River’ campaign will inspire people to value their local rivers and take action to look after them. It’s especially important that we care for our rivers when they’re facing the added pressure of drought, as well as the constant threats they face from over–use and pollution. The fact that so many organisations have come together to back this campaign shows the depth of feeling about this issue, and the importance we all place on making sure our actions don’t damage our rivers.”
Do you love your river?
30th Mar 2012
How much do you love your local river? Enough to make changes to your lifestyle to protect it? That's the question being asked of everyone following the launch of a groundbreaking campaign to raise public awareness about the link between the health of our rivers and our own water use.
The ‘Love Your River’ campaign is being launched and backed by Defra, the National Trust, the Environment Agency, the Wildlife Trusts, Keep Britain Tidy, water companies and Waterwise, to promote the value and benefits of our rivers to our everyday life.
The need to protect our rivers has become more urgent in light of droughts being declared in various parts of the country, with some of southern Yorkshire joining the list of drought affected areas this week.
The campaign will concentrate on the issues that affect rivers and encourage people to think about:
• how the water we use in our homes or businesses affects the water in our local river;
• how the pollutants we dump down our drains harms our local water;
• the fact that there is likely to be less water available for people and businesses in the future and the knock-on effect this will have on the natural world around the river; and
• how we could get by with less in the event of drought measures in our areas.
Celebrating the importance of rivers
The ‘Love Your River’ campaign is not just about educating people about the difficulties that many rivers face. It is also about celebrating the importance of rivers to local people – for their health, well-being, leisure and sport. It’s about recognising the great work that local groups already do to look after their rivers. It’s about honouring the community spirit and the inspirational individuals who give up their time and energy to improve their local environment.
Speaking from the River Itchen at the launch of the ‘Love Your River’ campaign, Rivers Minister Richard Benyon said:
“We all love our rivers. They are the lifeblood of our country. They’ve shaped our landscape, and our towns and cities have been designed around them. They are vitally important for our everyday lives and our environment, and we’ve all got a role to play in making sure our rivers are as healthy as they can be.
“I hope the ‘Love Your River’ campaign will inspire people to value their local rivers and take action to look after them. It’s especially important that we care for our rivers when they’re facing the added pressure of drought, as well as the constant threats they face from over–use and pollution. The fact that so many organisations have come together to back this campaign shows the depth of feeling about this issue, and the importance we all place on making sure our actions don’t damage our rivers.”
Contact Thames Water for Information about the Restoration of River Life at the River Crane
Thames Water polluted the River Crane on 29 October 2011. There has been no further announcement about when they expect to restore river life. You can express your views to:
Martin Baggs
Chief Executive Officer
RWE Thames Water
Clearway Court
Vastern Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 8DB
Thank you!
Make Your Views Known to The Environment Agency
You can write to The Environment Agency to express your concerns about the pollution of the River Crane and ask when they expect the river life to be restored:
Dr Paul Leinester
Chief Executive
The Environment Agency
Rio House
Waterside Drive
Aztec West
Almondsbury
Bristol
BS324UD
Friday 10 February 2012
Pupils protest against River Crane pollution
From Richmond and Twickenham Times (rttimes.co.uk)
Article by Rachel Bishop
Youngsters from A Green Flag eco-school last weekshowed their concern over the devastation from the pollution spill into the River Crane.
Pupil from Archdeacon Cambridge's School, in Twickenham, were upset about the pollution prompting one classto spend an entire lesson discussing the effect of the pollution spill and producing drawings and a piece of writing on how they felt about it.
Many of the pupils walk to school along the River Crane, so were affected by the damage caused to the environment and all the wildlife in Crane Park and Kneller Gardens.
One pupil wrote: "I am very sadbecause theRiver Crane has been polluted and every fish has died. I want to stop polluting forever."
An estimated 10,000 fish were killed after the sewage spill which happened when a six tonne valve in a major sewer serving Heathrow jammed shut on October 29 at Cranford Bridge while engineers were carrying out routine maintenance.
The Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE) have been working to improve the Crane corridor for the past eight yearsad held a volunteer event to help the environment recover around the sewage spill on 13 November2011.
Chairman of FORCE Rob Gray said: "More than 20 people turned out to help us on the day and we got a lot done, maintaining and improving the green spaces in Crane Park.
"Just as pleasing were the large numbers of local families, out in the park for the day, who were interested in our work and concerned about the pollution, but clearly had not been put off from enjoying their park."
Saturday 4 February 2012
River Crane: Polluted by Thames Water, October 2011
To read about the pollution of the River Crane by Thames Water in October 2011, please visit our Facebook page:
Crisis at the River Crane
facebook.com/RiverCraneRestoration
Here is the text of a Letter to the Editor that appeared in The Richmond and Twickenham Times written by Dr Gary Backler, a Trustee of the Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE), the volunteer group that has carried out improvements to the river and river bank life killed by the pollution caused by Thames Water.
"...I am disappointed with the media's sparse coverage of the major pollution incident on the River Crane over the weekend of October 29.
"The world's foremost international airport came within hours of being awash with raw sewage.
"More than 10,000 fish, including mature specimins up to 15 years old, as well as all the invertebrate life on which the fish, birds and river animals depend, were wiped out within the space of less than 24 hours.
"And once again, courtesy of Thames Water, users of the Crane and the Thames were exposed to raw sewage on a medieval scale. This is a story that needs to be told.
"Several things seem clear. Thames Water has clearly failed in one of its core activities - the safe management of sewage. Thames Water's knowledge of is key assests seems uncertain - otherwise it would have known that a key valve was about to stick.
"Thames Water's maintenance practices may also be deficient - otherwise the valve would have not have stuck in the first place.
"Certainly its risk management and contingency planning processes failed.
"Faced with these failures on the night, did Thames Water make a commercial but cynical decision?
"To avoid international profile and damages that a major pollution incident at Heathrow would have caused, did it decide to spread (literally) the damage over a much larger, more diffuse and disenfranchised population downstream of the Crane, none of whom enjoys the protection and redress of a contract?
"The commercial consequences and the media response would both have been very different had it opted to confine the problem to Heathrow instead.
"The incident raises some serious questions to which all Londoners deserve a response.
"1. Why has Heathrow been allowed to expand so much, without any upgrade to its sewage bypass and failsafe mechanisms beyond asingle valve apparently installed in the 1930s?
"2. How many other key clients and sites are dependent, like Heathrow, on a single, ancient valve?
"3. What isthe condition of those valves, and does Thames Water know their condition? Is this just an accident waiting to happen again at some other point along the Thames Valley any time soon? What if more than one valve fails at once next time?
"4. What contingency plans, if any, have Thames Water prepared for these various key clients and sites, in response to the specific potential risk of valve failure and sewage ingress?
Londoners have to hope the Environment Agency, as the regulator of Thames Water, gets satisfactory responses to these questions dring the years that it takes the Crane to recover."
Thames Water has promised to restore the River Crane environment...the restoration will be documented at facebook.com/RiverCraneRestoration
Thank you for your interest and support!
Crisis at the River Crane
facebook.com/RiverCraneRestoration
Here is the text of a Letter to the Editor that appeared in The Richmond and Twickenham Times written by Dr Gary Backler, a Trustee of the Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE), the volunteer group that has carried out improvements to the river and river bank life killed by the pollution caused by Thames Water.
"...I am disappointed with the media's sparse coverage of the major pollution incident on the River Crane over the weekend of October 29.
"The world's foremost international airport came within hours of being awash with raw sewage.
"More than 10,000 fish, including mature specimins up to 15 years old, as well as all the invertebrate life on which the fish, birds and river animals depend, were wiped out within the space of less than 24 hours.
"And once again, courtesy of Thames Water, users of the Crane and the Thames were exposed to raw sewage on a medieval scale. This is a story that needs to be told.
"Several things seem clear. Thames Water has clearly failed in one of its core activities - the safe management of sewage. Thames Water's knowledge of is key assests seems uncertain - otherwise it would have known that a key valve was about to stick.
"Thames Water's maintenance practices may also be deficient - otherwise the valve would have not have stuck in the first place.
"Certainly its risk management and contingency planning processes failed.
"Faced with these failures on the night, did Thames Water make a commercial but cynical decision?
"To avoid international profile and damages that a major pollution incident at Heathrow would have caused, did it decide to spread (literally) the damage over a much larger, more diffuse and disenfranchised population downstream of the Crane, none of whom enjoys the protection and redress of a contract?
"The commercial consequences and the media response would both have been very different had it opted to confine the problem to Heathrow instead.
"The incident raises some serious questions to which all Londoners deserve a response.
"1. Why has Heathrow been allowed to expand so much, without any upgrade to its sewage bypass and failsafe mechanisms beyond asingle valve apparently installed in the 1930s?
"2. How many other key clients and sites are dependent, like Heathrow, on a single, ancient valve?
"3. What isthe condition of those valves, and does Thames Water know their condition? Is this just an accident waiting to happen again at some other point along the Thames Valley any time soon? What if more than one valve fails at once next time?
"4. What contingency plans, if any, have Thames Water prepared for these various key clients and sites, in response to the specific potential risk of valve failure and sewage ingress?
Londoners have to hope the Environment Agency, as the regulator of Thames Water, gets satisfactory responses to these questions dring the years that it takes the Crane to recover."
Thames Water has promised to restore the River Crane environment...the restoration will be documented at facebook.com/RiverCraneRestoration
Thank you for your interest and support!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)