Extinction Rebellion's 'blue plaque' for Southern Water sewage spills

The two-metre installation at the West Pier criticises Southern water for dumping sewage into the sea, which it did 16,000 times last year.

But protesters, who were at the beach on Saturday (July 29) say the buck ultimately stops with the UK government for failing to implement a ban on the practice.

One Extinction Rebellion member and keen sea swimmer said : “We’ve watched in horror as our rivers and seas have become open sewers since October 2021, when the government voted down a proposal to stop water companies pumping waste directly into our waterways.

“They justified this by claiming that the proposal was too expensive.”

Conservative MPs voted against an amendment to the Environment Bill which would have made it illegal for water companies to release sewage into the sea.

“These plaques shine a light on the government’s failure to protect our waterways, the natural world, and all of us,” said Jo.

In another bitter blow to the environment, it was announced last year that the Environment Agency is pushing back targets to clean up England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters from 2027 to 2063.

Extinction Rebellion has criticised Southern Water (Image: Submitted)

Climate campaigner and Olympic gold medal canoeist Etienne Stott said: “It’s disgusting to think what’s being pumped into our rivers.

“The government and the water companies aren’t going to clean up unless ordinary people put pressure on them. Extinction Rebellion can’t do this alone.

“We need everyone who cares about our rivers and seas to stand up with us and speak out. This is just the first part of a bigger campaign to protect nature and our waterways.”

Just 14 per cent of the UK’s rivers achieve “good” ecological status with pollution from agriculture, human sewage, roads and single-used plastics creating a dangerous “chemical cocktail” in our waterways.

Philip Dunne, environmental audit committee chairman, said: “Rivers are the arteries of nature and must be protected.

“Our inquiry has uncovered multiple failures in the monitoring, governance and enforcement on water quality.

“For too long, the government, regulators and the water industry have allowed a Victorian sewerage system to buckle under increasing pressure.”

But Southern Water has hit back against claims the network cannot handle modern-day levels.

The water company said: “Brighton’s two outfalls at Albion Groyne and Black Rock have not been used for storm releases since the floods of 2015 thanks to the five kilometres of six-metre diameter sewage pipe between the city and our £300 million state-of-the-art treatment works at Peacehaven.

“We are a key custodian of water quality and play our part in improving the standard of bathing waters, through major investments in treatment works along our 700 miles of coast.

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“There’s never been more visibility, but there are several factors that all impact water quality.

“Investment since privatisation has already helped improve the quality of our bathing waters from only 28 per cent meeting public health standards pre privatisation to 94 per cent now rated as good or excellent.”

The government and the Environment Agency were contacted for comment.