We ask the UK Government to instruct the Environment Agency to cancel or remove any Discharge Permits granted to water companies in areas where the discharge empties into a river that has SSSI and/or SAC legal protection.

A Discharge Permit (specifically an environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency in England or Natural Resources Wales) can allow water companies to discharge into or within the vicinity of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) rivers. Water companies discharging sewage are killing the globally unique chalk streams which are protected SSSI and SAC ecosystems. Once these rivers are dead it is impossible to revive them to their original state.