Here’s a video report from BBC Breakfast from a couple of months ago, looking at highways environment run-off pollution from roads into rivers:
The EA said it recognised that run-off from highways and urban areas was a “serious issue” accounting for 18% of water quality failures in England, and the third most damaging source of water pollution after agriculture and sewage. Toxic run-off from roads not monitored, BBC finds
It seems that highway runoff pollution is “the toxic cocktail no-one wants to tackle”:
While sewage and intensive farming pollution steal the media headlines, an eco-toxic cocktail of hydrocarbons, metals and plastics runs off our roads into rivers and streams when it rains. Stormwater Shepherds and CIWEM [the Chartered Instituteionof Water and Environmental Management] have been pulling together the evidence.
And later this month, Jo Bradley from Stormwater Shepherds UK will delve into this complex issue – in an online talk on Managing Highway Runoff Pollution in Rivers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust:
A road can be a mucky place: oil, paint, metal, tarmac, tyre dust, gritting salt, and fuel residue all collect on its surface. When rain falls, this toxic cocktail is often washed in our country’s rivers, either directly or through a storm drain. Once there, it can damage the habitats and harm the wildlife; a problem that will worsen as our climate shifts towards longer dry periods and more intense rainfall.
Book for a place online for Tuesday 19 November 2024
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