Water company boss grilled by Shropshire MP
A water company boss has been grilled by a Shropshire MP about untreated sewage spilling into the River Severn and toxic water reaching people’s homes during flooding.
Chief Executive of Severn Trent Water, Liv Garfield, was quizzed this week by Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley who described sewage bubbling up from manholes in the street.
At an Environment, Food & Rural Affairs committee meeting at the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mrs Buckley told the CEO that, according to a provisional report, Severn Trent’s own operational issues were responsible for 13 per cent of ‘dry spills’ which is when a company deliberately releases sewage when it is not raining, potentially harming the environment.
“And 32 per cent are due to water capacity,” said Mrs Buckley. And she asked Mrs Garfield: “So who do you think is responsible for that?”
“That’s me, isn’t it?” replied the CEO.
Mrs Buckley – who was invited to join the committee as a special guest - said: “We’re talking about you allowing untreated sewage to be dumped in the river when there hasn’t been rain. I think we have to be transparent with the public who are very concerned about it, as you know especially in my constituency of Shrewsbury. But this is an ongoing issue, and residents tell me on a regular basis they are watching this, and you know they are watching it bubble up from manholes in the street.”
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Mrs Garfield replied: “I’m going to get to zero dry day spills. I’m totally committed. I’ve made that really clear. I agree 100 per cent, right?” And she went on to describe the company’s ongoing major spills work, saying it had already put in – in the last six months alone – 1,500 capital solutions into Severn Trent’s network to make sure that there will be no dry day spills in the future.
