The president of the Hauts-de-France region denounces an “ecological disaster” which has worsened since Brexit.
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“A real ecological disaster.” The president of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand alerted the government on Friday August 26 to the discharge of untreated British wastewater into the Channel and the North Sea. These practices lead to “great concern because of the pollution emanating from these discharges”said Xavier Bertrand in a letter addressed to the Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville.
The European Union is counting on the United Kingdom
If this situation “already denounced by many associations is not new, it seems to have worsened since Brexit, insofar as the United Kingdom has exempted itself from European regulations in environmental matters”he added in this letter sent to the press. “A British legislative standard (…) exempts water companies from the obligation to treat waste water before discharging it into the sea”underlined the president of Hauts-de-France.
He wants the French government to ask the UK “compliance with the European Union’s environmental requirements for the discharge of untreated wastewater”. The European Commission said Thursday that it would soon respond to complaints from MEPs on the subject. “We are counting on the United Kingdom to honor all its legal obligations (…) in order to prevent any health and environmental damage”has tweeted Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius on Friday.