Britain is facing renewed confrontation with the European Commission
over its sewage-strewn bathing beaches. The government鈥檚 promised cleanup
has ground to a halt this year, with almost 100 beaches still failing mandatory
standards in the Bathing Waters Directive.
The standards should have been met by 1985. In 1990, following legal
action by the European Commission, ministers promised completion by 1995,
but it is now clear that between 20 and 50 beaches will not meet the new
deadline.
The news comes only days after the chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, went
to Brussels to demand the renegotiation of a further directive, the Urban
Waste Water Directive, which will require still tougher measures to clean
sewage discharges into rivers and coastal waters by early next century.
He said it would cost Britain 拢10 billion to implement. But he failed
to say that part of this bill 鈥� up to 拢2 billion 鈥� will be spent
on the backlog of work needed to meet the bathing beaches directive.
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The Department of the Environment last week revealed that the number
of beaches failing the standard fell marginally this summer from 97 to 92.
Moreover, an analysis of the data reveals that bathers encountered more
sewage at major resorts. Of the 80 beaches at 40 鈥榝lagship鈥� resorts promoted
by the English Tourist Board, 24 failed the standard this year, compared
with 19 last year. Tim Yeo, environment minister, blamed 鈥榓 very wet spring
and late summer鈥� for overloading sewage works.
A spokesman for the National Rivers Authority, which compiled the figures,
said: 鈥榃e don鈥檛 now expect that all beaches will reach the EC target until
1997.鈥�
Clarke claims that meeting the latest directive will cost five times
as much as originally estimated. But earlier this year, the chairman of
the NRA, Lord Crickhowell, complained in a letter to the government about
the 鈥榥ew myth鈥� that water charges were rising because of new water quality
standards. He said that 鈥榓 very substantial part of increased water charges
arises . . . from a long overdue drive to achieve the standards set many
years ago, which were for too long ignored鈥�.
