§ Miss Fookesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has made of the cost of measures to improve the condition of coastal waters ; and what is the incidence of this on industrial costs and upon ratepayers.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe River Pollution Survey will provide an estimate of the cost necessary to bring discharges to rivers up to the river authorities' requirements. The approximate cost of controlling sewage discharges direct to the sea was estimated by the Jeger Committee to be £11 million per million population. To that would be added the unknown cost to industry of dealing with their discharge to the sea. The cost of treating industrial waste whether incurred direct or by the sewerage authority is expected to be borne by industry as part of their production costs, while the cost of disposing of domestic sewage falls on the rates.