Police and Environment Agency work together to stop waste criminals

Cheshire Constabulary's Sgt Rob Simpson explains the joint efforts of the police and the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime.
Cheshire Constabulary's Sgt Rob Simpson explains the joint efforts of the police and the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime.
Jenny Connell has worked in the Environment Agency for 15 years. She is a Senior Specialist in the Environment Agency’s net zero team – and here, she gives an insight into the science behind the EA’s carbon offsetting strategy to mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The problems facing water are complex, with multiple sources of pollution affecting water quality. One of the lesser-known areas of the Environment Agency’s work is cleaning up pollution from abandoned metal mines.
Mining played a major part in Britain’s rich industrial history, but this also left thousands of abandoned mines scattered across our landscape. Almost all these mines had closed by the early 1900s but they are still releasing harmful metals including lead, cadmium and copper. This is one of the top 10 issues for water quality in England as it harms fish and river insects. Abandoned mines are the largest source of metals to British rivers and seas (click here for more information). Pollution is localised to about 1,500km of rivers - mainly in the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire & Cornwall.
Debbie Thompson leads the Stour Field Team and has been with the Environment Agency for 15 years.
Here, Debbie explains how the team works throughout the year to help protect communities from flooding and improve the environment for people and nature.
The 14-strong field team can be seen working across this large chunk of east Kent on most days of the year.
Waste crime can take on many different forms from the very visible dumping of waste to fraudulent producer responsibility claims, deliberate breaches of permits, metal theft and the growing issue of the waste industry being used to launder money. It’s …
Jennifer Howard is an Asset Performance Advisor who has worked in Flood and Coastal Risk Management for the Environment Agency for 18 years. Her work is focussed on flood incident response. Here, she talks about how her background and how …
We know there are people out there who see the waste industry as a route to make a fast buck. But we are on a mission to stop them to protect the environment, support the legitimate waste management industry and …
With above average rainfall in the last few months, and precautionary activity by water companies and abstractors, water levels are returning to normal across most of the country. Water storage reservoirs are rapidly refilling, and most river and groundwater levels …
Officers from the Environment Agency and the Joint Unit for Waste Crime visited a number of sites across England on Thursday 12 January as part of Operations Lyceum and Iris, cracking down on waste criminals. The proactive operation checked lorries …
While stock of Atlantic Salmon in some English rivers has been struggling in recent years, Derbyshire’s River Derwent, which flows into the River Trent, has seen stock steadily improving. Over the last 10 years, the Environment Agency and partner organisations …