The Environment Agency has told its staff to “shut down” and ignore reports of low-impact pollution events because it does not have enough money to investigate them, according to a leaked internal report.
Exceptions to the rule will be pollution incidents caused by a regulated site or a water company, says the briefing, although it does not explain how it will determine the source or seriousness of an incident if it is not attended or investigated.
Data from the agency’s National Incident Recording System shows that while 116,000 potential incidents were reported to the agency in 2021, just 8,000 were attended.
