THAMES WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Early day motion 381, tabled 2 March 1999 by John Austin (Labour). Signed by 29 members.

That this House notes Thames Water's charity event on 3rd March to demonstrate its declared support for the environment; recalls that on 26th November several properties in Sandcliffe Road, Erith, were flooded with sewage during a discharge from the local pumping station and that the residents, including families with young children had to be evacuated, spending Christmas away from home; regrets that families are still unable to return to their homes; thanks the Mayor of Bexley, Councillor Chris Ball, for arranging a party for the children over Christmas and Bexley Council for its continued advice and support; further notes that Thames Water has denied that there was considerable deterioration in the pumps since the company took over responsibility from the local authority; regrets that misleading statements were made by Thames Water to the local authority; welcomes the intervention by the Environment Agency and its comment that the discharge of several million gallons of sewage into the River Thames represented a sustained and comprehensive pollution incident over several days if not weeks; notes that analysis of the debris on the foreshore at Erith revealed that chlorinated phenols were present in the sewage and that these are List 1 substances due to toxicity, environmental persistence and capacity for bioaccumulation under EU Directive 76/464/EC; calls upon the Environment Agency to carry out a full enquiry and for claims for compensation from residents to be met expeditiously and in full; and hopes that Thames Water's publicity stunt on 3rd March will not detract from the plight of the Sandcliffe Road residents.

Signatures by party: Labour 26, Liberal Democrat 2, Conservative 1.