How some farmers are breaking the rules on river pollution - but escaping prosecution

The pollution of our rivers has come under heavy scrutiny in recent months, with much of the focus on how water companies discharge sewage.
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But farming also plays a significant role - with run-off from fertilisers and pesticides.
An investigation by Channel 4 News can reveal that there have been more than 1,300 breaches of the rules brought in to deal with water pollution from agriculture but not a single prosecution.
The Environment Agency says they take a proportionate approach that uses advice and guidance first.
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Пікірлер: 113

  • @KOL630
    @KOL630 Жыл бұрын

    The Tory’s have allowed farmers to use previously banned substances to kill pests too so this inevitably ends up in the river. Terrible. Farming is important but it needs to be done responsibly and the government needs to enforce it.

  • @iangriffiths985

    @iangriffiths985

    Жыл бұрын

    The pollution in the video was not pesticide.

  • @honourthefire9182
    @honourthefire9182 Жыл бұрын

    I used to appreciate Farmers, farm hands and those who have farmed their land for generations. It keeps you in the present moment much of the time. Mother Nature does that. Farmers must be called to account for this. Its the land, rivers, oceans and future generations that will pay the price for this.

  • @yellowgreen5229

    @yellowgreen5229

    Жыл бұрын

    Current farmers are just heritors of land stolen from British workers.

  • @Joeink100

    @Joeink100

    Жыл бұрын

    Most of the time it's sewage plants doing this, those sewage treatment plants blame the farmers, some farms do it but the majority of lake pollution is sewage

  • @yellowgreen5229

    @yellowgreen5229

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Joeink100 that isn't true, many farms produce more waste than small towns because of nitrate fertiliser and animal agriculture,

  • @JanKopanski
    @JanKopanski Жыл бұрын

    How much damage can Truss do to the UK as she was the Environment secretary back then...

  • @rr-jp7kg
    @rr-jp7kg Жыл бұрын

    When I lived in the UK I used to hear about increasing levels of pollution in the rivers. Apparently it is getting worse and will get worse as the UK population continues to increase. The government can't do and won't do anything to stop it

  • @dontnoable

    @dontnoable

    Жыл бұрын

    *as the UK population of farmed animals grows

  • @Boo-pv4hn

    @Boo-pv4hn

    Жыл бұрын

    It’s not they can’t it’s literally they won’t, they choose to let them get away with it. We need more pressure on the government when my mum grew up she said you could find axelotyl regularly. Now we just see birds the occasional squirrel and the odd hedgehog oh and ALOT of foxes.. about the only thing that’s prospered by a lot of peoples throw trash everywhere attitude. The reality is we’ve already killed of so many species and ALOT more are critically endangered or endangered. There need to be world wide controls on plant gathering from the wild and wildlife collecting for research or sale.

  • @toriesdontgettazered7464

    @toriesdontgettazered7464

    Жыл бұрын

    Not in Scotland

  • @Sleepflowrr

    @Sleepflowrr

    Жыл бұрын

    ?

  • @hanselmansell7555
    @hanselmansell7555 Жыл бұрын

    Who cares? Certainly not our 'politicians' 😡

  • @Boo-pv4hn

    @Boo-pv4hn

    Жыл бұрын

    They may not but every day people do..like those doing the gathering and the research.a lot of us are trying to do our part including home growing fruit and veg and communal allotments people taking it upon themselves to make communal gardens more wildlife friendly . Our local town in recent years has been planting hundreds of trees. Re sowing wild native plant seeds. Leaving grass patches to rewild. People making home grown honey. Housing battery hens to have eggs. The reality is we can only do so much.

  • @soton5teve
    @soton5teve Жыл бұрын

    Election now, then you can separate the business & environment agency, that was put together to de-tooth the environment agency

  • @telesamgram1318
    @telesamgram1318 Жыл бұрын

    The country who gave the world Sir David also gave us Liz Truss. What a disgrace!

  • @dr_ned_flanders
    @dr_ned_flanders Жыл бұрын

    (singing) A good brook these days is hard to find. Clean water, not the polluted kind. A good brook these days is hard to find. So please be gentle with the water.

  • @calderarecords
    @calderarecords Жыл бұрын

    There are many solutions but it requires funding, but the Water companies prefer profit to progress & the Government are petrified of upsetting people with such exuberant funds at their disposal. "Pollution is the physical expression of corruption."

  • @kaymish6178
    @kaymish6178 Жыл бұрын

    We have the same problem in New Zealand. The farmers are climate vandals the world round. Farmers in Canterbury have poisoned their own drinking water with nitrate pollution, and so many rivers have become purified.

  • @riklangham6739

    @riklangham6739

    Жыл бұрын

    putrefied ?

  • @user-wickedflower

    @user-wickedflower

    8 ай бұрын

    Bullshit, we farmers have to fence off any waterways on our farms, for years. As a British person that moved to NZ I know both sides & England is way worse. The bays have the water tested every week & only after a high tide the levels mean no swimming for a few days. Tell the truth not fear mongering.

  • @t-rex4211
    @t-rex4211 Жыл бұрын

    Thiss iss a ssseroiusss problem. Companiess sshould be prothecuted

  • @tropics8407
    @tropics8407 Жыл бұрын

    Support and work with your farmers. If GB is not self sufficient and not producing and exporting food then you are importing thus bleeding away your country’s productive capacity. 🤔🤔

  • @mikeharvey9811
    @mikeharvey9811 Жыл бұрын

    Extinction Rebellion should bottle this water and deliver it to parliament, I’d deliver one to my mp and my daughter would deliver one to Mogg. Barb

  • @vole12
    @vole12 Жыл бұрын

    My fishing season was stuffed thanks to sewage . United Utilties the culprits .

  • @portcullis5622

    @portcullis5622

    Жыл бұрын

    United Utilities are a bunch of greedy, irresponsible, selfish c***s and should be disbanded.

  • @Boo-pv4hn
    @Boo-pv4hn Жыл бұрын

    Is this really a surprise? It’s sad we’ve had to wait till 2022 for it to be looked into and made news

  • @shanehumberstone5262
    @shanehumberstone5262 Жыл бұрын

    Accountability is well overdue for any polluters

  • @MonsterMacLLC
    @MonsterMacLLC Жыл бұрын

    If some crops are better at root retention than others, could/shouldn’t we be staggering the crop rotation a bit on species that could accelerate preservation?

  • @ascgazz

    @ascgazz

    Жыл бұрын

    Try watching the video 😂😂😂😂

  • @dontnoable

    @dontnoable

    Жыл бұрын

    What about farmed animals, and all the food that's grown to feed those millions of animals every year in the UK alone?

  • @ascgazz

    @ascgazz

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dontnoable what about them??

  • @Boo-pv4hn

    @Boo-pv4hn

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dontnoable that’s majorly a problem with the retailers requesting way over what they need.

  • @dontnoable

    @dontnoable

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Boo-pv4hn The most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet was undertaken by Oxford University, published in the journal Science. The study created a huge dataset based on almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification). It's farming animals that's the problem. And the scientists involved said the single most impactful thing a person can do is go vegan.

  • @ascgazz
    @ascgazz Жыл бұрын

    Nice reminder that Rory Stewart was a supportive Tory to Truss for a while once.

  • @pauln6803

    @pauln6803

    Жыл бұрын

    He was in the mould of Theresa May: a party loyalist... Until the party was no longer loyal to him.

  • @234cheech
    @234cheech Жыл бұрын

    its greed thats what it comes down tooo sick greed

  • @iangriffiths985

    @iangriffiths985

    Жыл бұрын

    If you mean overpopulation in the UK means we need a lot of food then yes, the country is greedy in wanting to eat. Or if you mean farmers are paying a grand a ton for fertiliser to let it run off in to rivers then not I can assure you that's not because they're greedy.

  • @eelm2079
    @eelm20793 ай бұрын

    it's crazy I'd put this problem at everyone's top3-5 issues in the country but government and people are too busy bickering about which parties better

  • @manufacturingdissent666
    @manufacturingdissent666 Жыл бұрын

    and if the government isnt policing this, will they police fracking with the same rigor

  • @drumminslife
    @drumminslife Жыл бұрын

    What are the compounds that are polluting rivers but good for the plants Dave is growing? (Nitrates, at least, are mentioned at one point.)

  • @MrBoggins1234

    @MrBoggins1234

    Жыл бұрын

    Nitrates, phosphates, Potassium, lithium, human excrement (via water treatment works) chicken offal and it's bacteria. All of which poisons riverlife and humans . The more one looks into this the more ridiculously myopic we as humans are when conflicted business men, supported by the most damaging element of the conservative party justify, what a single business, or market, does for it's owners dividends and capital growth.

  • @adrianthoroughgood1191

    @adrianthoroughgood1191

    Жыл бұрын

    It's not the chemicals themselves that are poisonous. Fertiliser, both synthic and natural (manure), run from the field where it is needed into the river where it isn't. The fertiliser feeds algae growth and it's the algae that's harmful.

  • @drumminslife

    @drumminslife

    Жыл бұрын

    @@adrianthoroughgood1191 Huh the video makes it sound like there are things that are toxic to humans (or mammals and fish) getting into the water and that the field crops can absorb those. The Potassium, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus chemicals/compounds used as fertilizer aren't as toxic to humans per particle as some of the things we put in our own water supply (such as Flouride and Chlorine).

  • @charlesflouvat1829
    @charlesflouvat1829 Жыл бұрын

    How many voters go fishing every week?

  • @234cheech

    @234cheech

    Жыл бұрын

    many

  • @aferalunicorn1832

    @aferalunicorn1832

    Жыл бұрын

    Probably less, because the fish are dead

  • @rr-jp7kg

    @rr-jp7kg

    Жыл бұрын

    I'd guess about 2.

  • @rr-jp7kg

    @rr-jp7kg

    Жыл бұрын

    It's okay, never fear, the NHS is here.

  • @janjan-dd4wv
    @janjan-dd4wv Жыл бұрын

    Farmers are high polluters in other ways. Slurry and slurry tankers, diesel powered tractors also pollute the air and our lungs

  • @p-james
    @p-james Жыл бұрын

    How will this be blamed on the EU?

  • @martinobrien7110
    @martinobrien7110 Жыл бұрын

    The River Lee stinks to high heaven.

  • @hanselmansell7555
    @hanselmansell7555 Жыл бұрын

    Ahhhhh....water companies, again.... 💩💦#privatisation

  • @shanehumberstone5262
    @shanehumberstone5262 Жыл бұрын

    I and many others pay the environment agency a lot each year to use our boats on rivers,they can’t even afford to keep the rivers fully operational for use,so where is all the money actually going

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham4570 Жыл бұрын

    River rother in Chesterfield smells like SEWAGE

  • @toriesdontgettazered7464
    @toriesdontgettazered7464 Жыл бұрын

    Should not have voted for Brexit that way UK government and farmers wouldve had regulations to follow for the good of the environment ...

  • @Waltzhybrid92
    @Waltzhybrid92 Жыл бұрын

    Supporters of Julian Assange host international day of action against his extradition

  • @exme3814
    @exme3814 Жыл бұрын

    0:12-0:20

  • @iangriffiths985
    @iangriffiths985 Жыл бұрын

    Newman: bUt wHo cAn wE bLaMe.

  • @shaunstracey-kemp8210
    @shaunstracey-kemp8210 Жыл бұрын

    Did this liz truss

  • @danhurley6152
    @danhurley6152 Жыл бұрын

    There are solar farms in my area causing serious run off problems into the river the water runs straight off acres of glass basically onto neighbouring arable feilds then on down to the river , the environment agency have built bunds along ditches last year to try and hold and slow the water down from washing the nitrates off the farm land

  • @charlesflouvat1829

    @charlesflouvat1829

    Жыл бұрын

    Farmer's have been saying that there was no rain this year 🙄

  • @charlesflouvat1829

    @charlesflouvat1829

    Жыл бұрын

    Farmer's said that there wasn't enough rain this year 🙄

  • @JohnnyMotel99
    @JohnnyMotel99 Жыл бұрын

    Pollution is good for the GDP! /s

  • @12bigredd
    @12bigredd Жыл бұрын

    lol yeah lets look at the little people not the big companies doing 10 times worse lol

  • @mickmulcahy6851
    @mickmulcahy6851 Жыл бұрын

    He’s Kevin what I like to do he doesn’t

  • @moussaouiahmed
    @moussaouiahmed Жыл бұрын

    ..........................................AM

  • @spitfirered
    @spitfirered Жыл бұрын

    I Don't Think This Is The Farmers, It's Big Corporations causing All This Damage, This Is Another Way To Stop Farming And If You Believe This Story, Then You Will Starve If You Don't Do Something About It, You Know Media Sticks Up For The Big Guys But Not For Those Who Try To Keep The Food Chain Going!

  • @betabenja
    @betabenja Жыл бұрын

    brexit

  • @tonychicas5316
    @tonychicas5316 Жыл бұрын

    You guys going kill all your fish 🐟....

  • @soton5teve
    @soton5teve Жыл бұрын

    The causes are near by businesses, maybe show them, with a "well the fish are alive, and the river is fine here, but just passed this business, it's dead.

  • @dominospizza4386

    @dominospizza4386

    Жыл бұрын

    Do you think the businesses would fail if they were forced to be more environmentally considerate?

  • @Will111ism
    @Will111ism Жыл бұрын

    #Propaganda ☆

  • @Will111ism

    @Will111ism

    Жыл бұрын

    @You Tube don't be jealous

  • @sameaulahad2824
    @sameaulahad2824 Жыл бұрын

    How can you say you love your country when you do this much damage to it?

  • @robertskolimowski7049

    @robertskolimowski7049

    Жыл бұрын

    My sentiments exactly, however, that's how many interpret capitalism - striving to make money no matter the cost whatsoever, ethics?, what ethics?, sad😔 ✌

  • @sameaulahad2824

    @sameaulahad2824

    Жыл бұрын

    @@robertskolimowski7049 to much of capitalism replied on the other person actually giving. Not just one party taking

  • @AntonioMarino5763
    @AntonioMarino5763 Жыл бұрын

    Uk happy fish🙌🏻

  • @234cheech
    @234cheech Жыл бұрын

    all farm lands felds that rivers run along should bee took then that land put back for the wildlife thats the thing thats needed

  • @iangriffiths985

    @iangriffiths985

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah and feed fewer people, good idea.

  • @dontnoable

    @dontnoable

    Жыл бұрын

    @@iangriffiths985Farming animals needs to come to an end. It takes up so much in terms of resources like food, water, landspace and encroachment on wildlife and pollutes and kills waterways