Toxic timebomb: 25,000 filthy road drains spew cancer-causing chemicals into our rivers–and the environment agency doesn’t care

MPs told Britain’s waterways are being poisoned every time it rains as yet another water scandal explodes

Britain’s rivers are being turned into toxic dumping grounds—and it’s happening in broad daylight while regulators sit on their hands.

In yet another water scandal to shame the nation, MPs have heard that 25,000 road drains across England are spewing out a lethal cocktail of chemicals every time it rains—with not a single permit, not a single safeguard, and not a shred of accountability.

The toxic soup

The filth flowing from our roads is nothing short of horrifying: tyre dust, brake particles, oil slicks, fuel residues, toxic metals, carcinogens and microplastics. This chemical soup is silently killing fish, devastating aquatic life and leaving our rivers sicker by the day.

And yet unlike the sewage crisis that has enraged households up and down the country, this dirty secret is being brushed under the carpet. The Environment Agency admits it does not monitor the problem and has no system to regulate it.

Campaigners are furious. Jo Bradley, from Stormwater Shepherds, told MPs: “All 25,000 outfalls is pumping toxic pollution into rivers every time it rains. … but no one is measuring these harms. No one is interested.”

Governmental indifference

National Highways has grudgingly admitted that some sites are “high risk”, but in a jaw-dropping display of complacency, it says it will only deal with them by 2030. That means at least another seven years of rivers being poisoned in plain sight.

Despite £56 billion being promised to clean up sewage, only “a few million” has been set aside for road runoff.

Catherine Moncrieff, of the Chartered Institution of Environmental and Water Management, sounded the alarm: “The problem of highway pollution is increasing. It’s getting worse.”

Scandal after scandal

This is the latest body blow in Britain’s disgraceful water mismanagement saga—a system plagued by leaking pipes, sewage spills, profiteering water firms and regulators asleep at the wheel.

Our Fair Future recently reported research has revealed English swimming waters are five times more likely to be polluted than those in the EU. According to figures from campaign group Best for Britain, just 64.2% of England’s bathing waters were rated “excellent” last year. In the EU? A sparkling 85.4%.

Worse still, England has the highest proportion of “poor” quality bathing waters in Europe—8.4%—meaning they fail even the most basic safety standards. These waters are crawling with dangerous bacteria such as intestinal enterococci and E. coli, bugs that can leave swimmers violently ill.

The question now is simple: how much more betrayal can this country stomach?