Exclusive: river groups appalled by strategy set out in briefing that says agency only has capacity to deal with most severe cases
England’s Environment Agency has told its staff to “shut down” and ignore reports of low-impact pollution events because it does not have enough money to investigate them, according to a leaked internal report.
The ruling on so-called “category 3 and 4” incidents mean that events such as farm pollution or hazardous dumps by business may not be properly investigated. The decision has infuriated river groups and NGOs.