§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) serious (category 1) and (b) significant (category 2) pollution incidents there have been in each year since 1996. [129349]
§ Margaret BeckettThe number of Category 1 and 2 incidents affecting water for each year from 1996 is shown in the table, together with the number of Category 1 and 2 incidents affecting all media (air, land and water) from 1999. Statistics relating to air and land were not reported to the Environment Agency prior to 1999.
Currently 160 permit applications made to the Environment Agency have been under determination for four months or longer. Local authority data are collected annually and information for this the first major year of operation will not be available until autumn 2004.