Existing water obstructions

You may need to construct an eel pass if you own or occupy land with, or are in charge of, a

• dam
• weir
• sluice
• other in-river obstruction

The Environment Agency will write to you if you must construct an eel pass to allow eels to migrate safely past the structure.

Contact the Environment Agency and ask for your local fisheries officer to confirm a completion date for the work at your site.

You may need to apply for a permit or permission to do the work. Check the guidance to see if you need a:

• flood risk activity environmental permit
• land drainage consent

Check with your local planning authority if you need planning permission.

You must pay for the construction, operating and maintenance costs.

If you do not do the work the Environment Agency can:

• issue you a warning letter
• serve you with a formal caution
• prosecute you if they think it’s in the public interest
• construct the eel pass and charge you for the work

Existing water abstraction structures

In most cases you must install an eel screen if you do both of the following:

• own or occupy land with, or are in charge of, a water abstraction structure
• abstract at least 20 cubic metres of water per day

Water abstraction structures include:

• pumping stations
• hydro-electric power stations
• irrigation pumping systems

Check when you do not need to install an eel screen.

A screen will keep eels out of the structure and allow them to migrate safely past it.

You must have a temporary exemption notice in place until you have completed the work. Contact the Environment Agency to get your exemption notice and the date by which to complete the work.

You may need to apply for a permit or permission to do the work. Check the guidance to see if you need a:

• flood risk activity environmental permit
• land drainage consent

Check with your local planning authority if you need planning permission.

You must pay for the installation, operating and maintenance costs.

If you do not do the work before your exemption notice expires the Environment Agency can:

• issue you a warning letter
• serve you with a formal caution
• prosecute you if they think it’s in the public interest
• install the eel screen and charge you for the work

When you do not need to install an eel screen

If you can prove that your abstraction structure does not affect eel migration, the Environment Agency may give you a permanent exemption from screening.

If you can provide evidence that it’s not cost beneficial to install an eel screen, the Environment Agency may give you an exemption from screening for a specified period. You must prove that the cost of installing a screen is greater than the benefit of protecting eel at your intake. Contact the Environment Agency to find out how to do these calculations.

But you will still need to protect eels, for example by:

• installing a fish recovery and return system
• installing a fish friendly pump or turbine
• protecting eel in another way, such as creating a new eel habitat

New licence and permit applications

You must make sure eels can migrate safely past your new structure or flood risk activity when you apply for any of the following:

• impoundment licence
• abstraction licence
• flood risk activity environmental permit

Impoundment licence

In most cases, when you apply for an impoundment licence you must include information on how eels can pass safely around, over or through your development.

You may not need to include an eel pass if your structure is both greater than:

• 100 kilometres from the tidal limit
• 150 metres above sea level

Check with the Environment Agency and ask for your local fisheries officer.

Apply for an impoundment licence.

Abstraction licence

In most cases you must include a screen at an abstraction point to keep eels out of the abstraction structure. You must submit information on how you will include a screen as part of your licence application.

You may not need to include an eel screen if your structure is both greater than:

• 100 kilometres from the tidal limit
• 150 metres above sea level

Check with the Environment Agency and ask for your local fisheries officer.

Apply for an abstraction licence.

Flood risk activity environmental permit

When you apply you must submit details of eel passage, such as an:

• elver pass
• eel by-pass structure

Read the guidance on how to apply for a flood risk activity permit.

Sanctions

If you do not comply with the conditions of your licence or permit the Environment Agency can:

• issue you a warning letter
• serve you with a formal caution
• prosecute you if they think it’s in the public interest
• impose a civil sanction where the law allows or you may be able to offer a civil sanction enforcement undertaking.

Contact the Environment Agency

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506 See call charges

Ask for your local fisheries officer.

Minicom (for the hard of hearing) 03702 422 549

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

A high pressure system persisting over the UK has brought warm and still conditions, resulting in increased ground level ozone.

A number of sites in the UK have exceeded the EU ozone public information threshold of 180µg/m3.

The latest information on these alerts will be issued on the UK Air website.

Some people are more sensitive to ozone than others and may begin to notice an effect on their breathing. People with asthma are not necessarily more sensitive but, if affected, can use their ‘reliever’ inhaler to alleviate symptoms.

If affected, people are urged to take sensible precautions. In particular, avoiding exercise outdoors in the afternoon can reduce individual exposure to ozone.

If the legal threshold for ozone is again breached, further alerts will be issued on our UK Air website.

Forecasts, latest measurements and health advice are available on UK Air and via Defra’s freephone helpline (0800 556677). Updates on current and forecast levels of air pollution can also be found on Twitter @DefraUKAir.

This is an important step towards the site’s planned closure, as part of the NDA’s mission to clean up and decommission the UK’s earliest nuclear sites.

Magnox Ltd and its supply chain used innovative techniques and unique solutions to manage the waste, which mainly consists of pieces of the magnesium alloy cladding that surrounds Magnox nuclear fuel. They dissolved the material in acid and explored new options for disposing of the waste. The result is a reduction in the hazards on the site and shortening the FED treatment project by more than a year.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Chief Executive, David Peattie, said:

This is another really important milestone and a huge step forward in cleaning up and decommissioning the UK’s earliest nuclear sites.

Finding new solutions and techniques to deal with radioactive waste is helping us to do things more quickly and efficiently, making our sites safer sooner and providing best value for the taxpayer. I would like to thank everyone involved in delivering this successful programme.

65 tonnes of FED were treated in an on-site ‘dissolution plant’, which dissolved the waste in an acid, separated the radioactive materials and reduced the volume of the solid waste by more than 90 per cent.

Over half of the FED at Bradwell was re-classified as suitable for disposal as Low Level Waste (LLW) in a first-of-a-kind collaboration between Magnox Ltd, the Low Level Waste Repository Ltd (LLWR) and specialist contractor Tradebe-Inutec.

More than 140 tonnes of FED have now been sent to Tradebe-Inutec as LLW for treatment and eventual disposal at the Low Level Waste Repository in west Cumbria – saving around 2 years of dissolution operations.

Bob Nichols, Magnox Ltd’s Bradwell Site Closure Director, said:

I want to pay tribute to the Bradwell and wider Magnox workforce who have worked tirelessly to manage Bradwell’s FED inventory, which has proved to be one of the most challenging work programmes undertaken by Magnox.

We have shown we are able to work collaboratively, both with our supply chain and other parts of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate, to accelerate progress without compromising our high safety standards, which stands us in good stead as the site approaches Care and Maintenance.

A second major achievement at the site is the demolition of the used fuel ponds complex – which was used to cool and store spent nuclear fuel under water after it was taken out of the reactors when the site was generating electricity.

The redundant buildings were decontaminated over a 4 year period, which meant they could be taken down using conventional demolition methods. The remaining buildings on the site will now be enclosed in weatherproof cladding in preparation for Care and Maintenance.

Find out more about Bradwell nuclear site

The existing flood embankment provides an important role in reducing flood risk in Calstock, but surveys have shown it is in a poor condition. Therefore, the Environment Agency is exploring options to develop an affordable scheme to continue the standard of flood protection to properties within Calstock.

On Tuesday 27 June from 12pm to 3pm at Walthamstow Marshes, near Springfield Marina, the Environment Agency will be showcasing their cool kit and little critters as part of London Rivers Week.

London Rivers Week is running again this year with Catchment Partnerships and environmental organisations such as Thames21, ZSL, London Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and the South East Rivers Trust, putting on public events, walks and talks at special river sites.

Amanda MacLean, Catchment Co-ordinator at the Environment Agency, said:

We are very excited to be showcasing our work at the London Rivers Week this year on the 27 June. Over the last 20 years the Environment Agency has made big steps to improve the quality of water in rivers. Please do come along to find out about the wide variety of ways in which we work to create a better place for people and the environment. We’re bringing lots of our cool kit for you to see.

The Environment Agency will have demonstrations of flood risk management equipment, including their:

• weed cutting boat
• flood water pumps and aerators (in and by the river)
• incident response vehicle, and
• temporary flood barrier.

Members of the public can talk to staff and find out about the following activities:

• monitoring the health of our rivers; trays of invertebrates will be on display
• invasive species
• pollution incidents
• flood risk management; including how we work with communities to reduce flood risk, and
• general information about our other activities and work with partners such as LVRPA (Lee Valley Regional Park Authority).

Other exciting events the Environment Agency is running during London Rivers Week include:

• 4pm to 6pm Monday 26 June at Watling Park, Burnt Oak, HA8 0RF at the northern entrance off Abbots Road.
• 12pm on Tuesday 27 June at the Strand on Kew Green.
• 11:30am on Wednesday 28 June at the River Wandle, Merton High Street, Colliers Wood.

More details and a full list of events can be found on the official website.