§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for consent to discharge unsatisfactory effluent into rivers have been granted by river purification boards so far in the present year.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonI am aware of none. River purification boards, in granting consent to discharge sewage and trade effluents, attach conditions which ensure that, in the circumstances appropriate to each case, the quality of the receiving waters is not adversely affected.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sites in Scotland are authorised to discharge radioactive liquid waste to waterways.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThere are 112 sites in Scotland authorised to dispose of liquid radioactive waste, either to coastal waters or, in the majority of cases, to the sewerage system.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the estimated tonnage of sewage disposed of on an annual basis into the rivers(a) in Strathclyde and (b) in Scotland as a whole.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information requested is not available in the form sought. Treated effluent from around 1 million people is discharged to non-tidal rivers in Strathclyde from the council's sewage treatment works; in Scotland as a whole the corresponding figure is some 1,600,000.