Pollution incidents - an overview
Overview
In 2007, 827 pollution incidents had a serious impact on the environment in England and Wales.
Incidents in 2007 » What do we do about it?
Pollution events such as oil spills or the accidental release of raw sewage can harm the environment. These events can kill fish and other waterlife, and can threaten human health. Other events, such as fly-tipping, degrade our neighbourhoods and spoil the countryside.
Members of the public report the majority of pollution incidents through the Environment Agency’s 24-hour pollution hotline – 0800 80 70 60.
Incidents in 2007
The number of serious (category 1 and 2) pollution incidents fell by eight per cent between 2006 and 2007 from 910 to 827, the lowest number on record (Figure 1 - click to enlarge). The number of major (category 1) pollution incidents fell 14 per cent from 92 to 79.
We recorded 16,309 minor (category 3) pollution incidents. Individually these incidents are less damaging to the environment, but they add up to a lot of environmental harm.
There are four categories of pollution incidents. Please see Pollution incident categories page for definitions. We measure the effects of pollution on air, land and water.
What do we do about it?
We take enforcement action against companies that cause serious pollution incidents.
Our successful prosecutions against companies in 2007 totalled over £2.9 million in fines that averaged £10,508 per business (compared to a total of £3.5 million and an average £11,800 in 2006). We successfully prosecuted 163 individuals; including 12 company directors in 2007.
For more information on pollution incidents:
- Pollution incident sources and pollutants
- Pollution incident categories
- Air pollution incidents
- Land pollution incidents
- Environmental Facts and Figures search facility
- Water pollution incidents
For detailed pollution incident numbers
-
Pollution incidents 2007 (MS Excel, 290KB, seconds)
-
Pollution incidents 2006 (MS Excel, 309KB, seconds)
-
Water pollution incidents 1999 (Acrobat, 447kb, 4 min)
-
Pollution Incidents 2005 (MS Excel, 352KB, 3 mins)
-
Pollution incidents 2004 (MS Excel, 330KB, 2 mins)
-
Pollution incidents 2003 (MS Excel, 243KB, 2 mins)
-
Pollution incidents 2002 (MS Excel, 307KB, 2 mins)
-
Pollution incidents 2001 (MS Excel, 262KB, seconds)
Further information from the Environment Agency:
