UK 'needs to comply with EU environmental legislation'

The UK needs to comply with European Union (EU) environmental legislation on wastewater treatment, according to one civil servant.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said that the country needs to put more effort into upgrading its collection systems.

His comments follow the European Commission's decision to take the UK to the European Court of Justice due to the poor standard of its urban wastewater systems and treatment facilities.

"Such investment will bring enormous benefits in terms of improving the quality of the environment," stated Mr Dimas.

It has been claimed that collecting systems in London and Whitburn are too often being permitted to discharge excessive quantities of untreated sewage from storm water overflow.

This constitutes a breach of the 1991 EU directive on urban wastewater treatment, especially as sewage processing capacity is also thought to be in need of improvement in London.

The UK first became a member of the EU in 1973.

Posted by Claire Manning