Angling Trust boss Mark Lloyd and National Campaigns Co-ordinator Martin Salter this week joined the internationally renowned ocean rower and environmental campaigner Roz Savage in appealing for opponents of a super sewer for London to take the long-term view. Roz, who has rowed across three oceans single-handed, said: “We need to accept some short-term pain for the long-term gain.”
Martin Salter, who helped organise Monday night’s House of Commons reception which was hosted by environmentalist and Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, told the audience that overhauling London’s antiquated sewer network is “the last piece in the jigsaw of restoring the health of the capital’s river” whilst Roz Savage called the regular sewage discharges a “disgusting embarrassment” that urgently needs tackling.
Zac Goldsmith MP said: “The existing sewer system is remarkable, given that it is 160 years old. But it needs an overhaul. We put enough raw sewage into the river to fill the Albert Hall 450 times, and that has to stop.” He added: “In addition to the environmental imperative, this project will create thousands of local jobs, and high quality apprenticeships, and contribute to getting us back on track economically.”
Roz echoed his comments, and on the predicted impact of the Thames Tunnel’s construction on people living near to the river, she added: “I quite understand their concerns but sometimes you have to put up with short-term pain for long-term gain.”
The Westminster event followed a close-up inspection of one of the overflow vents. Roz rowed under Putney Bridge to see for herself the human effluent, sanitary items and other detritus that pour from the combined sewer overflow (CSO) beneath the busy Thames crossing, just yards away from riverside restaurants and prestigious rowing clubs.
Putney Bridge CSO discharges 34 times a year on average, accounting for 68,200 of the 39 million tonnes of sewage that annually enter the river from the 36* most-polluting CSOs built into London’s overstretched Victorian sewer network.
Roz, the first woman to row across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, braved London’s filthy waters in her role as ambassador for Thames Tunnel Now (TTN) – a coalition of 18 environmental groups who support the proposed Thames Tunnel, which will stop sewage entering the river.
After her trip to see the Putney sewer overflow, Roz addressed a TTN reception at the House of Commons attended by nearly 200 supporters of the project. Roz said: “It’s a disgusting embarrassment that we are dumping hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sewage into the river every week. It is also a serious health hazard and I hate to think what visitors to the Olympics will think. I’ve rowed through some pretty grim stuff on my travels but the Thames is heart-breakingly returning to the open sewer it used to be 200 years ago. The Thames Tunnel cannot come soon enough.”
As little as 2mm of rain is enough to overload the capital’s sewerage system and cause untreated effluent to spill into the river. Disease-ridden sewage discharges, which often kill fish and other wildlife, take place more than once a week on average.
The 14-mile ‘supersewer’ will take the sewage that currently enters the river away for treatment. The width of three London buses, it will run from Acton in the west to Abbey Mills in the east, according to proposals.
Debbie Leach, Chief Executive of environmental charity Thames21, lead agency of the TTN coalition, said: “The River Thames is the greatest open space running across London, but we are failing completely to protect it. The Thames is being ruined for the people of London as well as for the amazing wildlife that depends on it. We need to change things. The Thames Tunnel project is vital. It needs to be delivered now.”
Phil Burston, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), a TTN member, said: “The Thames Tunnel is a once in a generation opportunity to leave a sewage-free Thames as our legacy for this century and beyond. The Thames Tunnel Now coalition believes it is the only viable and cost effective way to deliver that legacy.”
Mark Lloyd, CEO of the Angling Trust added: “the tidal Thames could be an amazing resource for thousands of anglers in the capital if only these sewage overflows could be stopped. It could support a host of wildlife as well as fish, and provide an inspiring aquatic playground for the next generation. There is no alternative to the Tunnel, which is already decades overdue. Let’s get on with building it urgently.”
A planning application (Development Consent Order**) for the tunnel, forecast by Defra to cost £4.1bn, is set to be submitted in 2013. Provided approval is granted, engineers expect to break ground in 2016, and complete the scheme in 2023.
The Thames Tunnel is the third phase of the London Tideway Improvements programme. Phase one – £675m of upgrades to London’s five main sewage works – is already under way, as is phase two – the £635m Lee Tunnel, a four-mile sewage tunnel to tackle the Abbey Mills CSO in Stratford, taking sewage that currently spills to the River Lee for treatment at Beckton sewage works in Newham.
* There are 36 CSOs that the Enviornment Agency requires Thames Water to tackle. Thirty-four are tackled by the Thames Tunnel, one by the Lee Tunnel and one by other means at Wick Lane sewage pumping depot.
** The water company will apply not for planning permission, as is currently the case, but rather for a ‘Development Consent Order.’
