§ Lord Hogg of Cumbernauldasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the Water Quality Survey of Scotland report will be published.
§ Lord SewelThe report on the Water Quality Survey of Scotland 1995 is being published today and 83WA a copy has been placed in the House Library. I am pleased that the results confirm that the majority of Scottish rivers, lochs, estuaries and coastal waters are of a high quality.
However, I intend that progress will continue to improve further the Scottish water environment. For very large discharges (that is those serving more than 150,000 population equivalent), Article 8(5) of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive allows for primary treatment only to be provided where it can be demonstrated that there would be no environmental benefit from secondary treatment. I have decided that only in very exceptional circumstances will we allow waste water discharges from major conurbations into coastal waters to be provided with anything less than secondary treatment. Following advice from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), it is clear that the discharge from the Aberdeen Waste Water Treatment Works, which discharges directly to the open North Sea via a 2.5 km long outfall, is exceptional in that it far exceeds the criteria established to judge such cases. The North of Scotland Water Authority's plans to invest in primary treatment will significantly improve the discharge, but I have accepted SEPA's advice that providing secondary treatment would not lead to any additional environmental benefit. The Government therefore have proposed to the European Commission that Article 8(5) of the directive should be applied to the Aberdeen case.
Having also carefully considered SEPA's recommendations following comprehensive studies at Edinburgh and Levenmouth, I have decided that secondary treatment should be provided at those two sites. I do not envisage that the Government will wish to put forward to the Commission any further cases for relaxations under Article 8(5) for discharges from large sewage works into other Scottish waters.
Location Applicant Test Date Kit/Replica Model Retest Date Certificate issued Aberdeen Nil — — — — — Bristol Beetle UK 2 October 1997 No Saloon No application No Quantum Sports Cars 1 October 1997 Yes Q2 — 1 October 1997 Quantum Sports Cars 1 October 1997 Yes H14 20 October 1997 20 October 1997 Shrewsbury Rolls Royce 15 October 1997 No Bentley Turbo 14 November 1997 14 November 1997 Carlisle Nil — — — — — Newcastle Nil — — — — — Exeter Trubshan 22 September 1997 No Isuzu P/Up No application No Beverley Nil — — — — — Edinburgh Nil — — — — — Leighton Buzzard Nil — — — — — Norwich Nil — — — — — Manchester Pell Autos 16 July 1997 Yes Genisis 21 August 1997 21 august 1997 Car Craft 13 August 1997 Yes Cyclone 14 October 1997 14 October 1997 Tranter 16 October 1997 No Toyota Light Ace not applicable 16 October 1997 Collins 31 October 1997 No Toyota Rav 4 12 November 1997 12 November 1997 Collins 31 October 1997 No Toyota Rav 4 12 November 1997 12 November 1997 Royale Motor Co. 10 November 1997 Yes Sabre not applicable 10 November 1997 Leicester Diahatsu UK 29 August 1997 No Avanzato not applicable No Gillingham Nil — — — — —