Latest news with #EnvironmentAgency
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Cockermouth Old Courthouse owner denies removing support pillars
The owner of a historic courthouse has denied accusations he removed pillars from the building before it collapsed into a rear section of Cockermouth Old Courthouse fell into the River Cocker in Cumbria in 2023 and the Grade II-listed building has yet to be MP for Penrith and Solway, Markus Campbell-Savours, claimed in Parliament the building's owner ignored advice about removing the support pillars and now wants the taxpayer to foot a repair bill of between £1m and £ Old Courthouse's owner, Samiul Ahmed, said he did not remove the pillars and said he only wanted support from the council. The Old Courthouse is about 190 years old and has not been used since its collapse meant a nearby bridge had to be closed to traffic over safety concerns, leading to weeks of disruption through Cockermouth. Campbell-Savours also claimed the damage to the building had led to an increased risk of flooding in the town."There is clearly a responsibility on the Environment Agency to reduce flooding risks in the town but right now they are being impeded in their ability to do that because of the difficult access to a dangerous building," he said. But Mr Ahmed claimed the MP's comments were nothing more than a PR stunt."I didn't remove any pillars," he said."It's an investment. We bought it and we want to fix the building and get it back into use."When asked about whether he wanted the taxpayer to pay for the repairs, Mr Ahmed said: "Why would we want that? We just need support from the council."Mr Ahmed claimed he already had plans to repair the building and turn it into residential said he was unable to proceed with the plans because representatives from Cumberland Council refused to meet with him, a claim the council March 2024, the local authority said it was planning to complete the urgent works to the building and would recoup the costs from Mr earlier this year, it said it had "no plans to undertake any physical works on the building" because it remained in private ownership. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Next Thing To Ruin The UK's Water Supply Isn't What You Think
Recently, the Environment Agency (EA) warned that unless our water is 'carefully managed, England will run out of this precious resource at the times we most need it.' But our water demands are only rising, they add, partly due to population growth but also thanks to 'the servicing of new technologies, such as the cooling of data centres powering AI.' Speaking to The Guardian, an EA source revealed that the AI boom means the body cannot accurately predict future water consumption, making it hard to plan for the future (per the publication, data centres don't have to report how much water they use to cool servers). shared that the water needed to keep data centres cool is as much as 360,000L in large centres. A study suggests AI-specific water demands could reach 6.6 billion cubic metres by 2027, 'which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of 4-6 Denmark or half of the United Kingdom.' The news comes after our warmest spring on record and the driest in over 50 years. The EA warned that if nothing changes, we could be short of 5 billion litres a day by 2055 in the UK. This is not only due to AI use. But some think the boom will have an outsized impact on the risk and make it harder to plan for emergencies. Speaking to HuffPost UK, Jonathan Niesel, AI Advisor for Greenpeace, said: 'AI's environmental footprint goes beyond energy. Cooling data centres require large quantities of water – according to our projections, data centres worldwide consumed 175 billion litres of water in 2023. 'Consumption is forecast to more than triple by 2030, with this trend mainly driven by AI-specific data centres,' he continued, pointing to a report compiled for Greenpeace by the Öko-Institut. 'As extended droughts are becoming more frequent, AI developers must take responsibility for their supply chains, minimise their water consumption and ensure that local communities do not suffer shortages as a consequence of their thirst.' This year, Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Labour announced plans to 'unleash' more AI into the private sector, fast-tracking the planning of 'thirsty' data centres in 'growth zones' across the UK. The EA also said that water companies should halve the amount of water lost through leaks. It wants to increase the number of reservoirs in the UK, build desalination plants (which make seawater drinkable), and get water from the wettest parts of the UK to the driest. EA chairman, Alan Lovell, said: 'The nation's water resources are under huge and steadily increasing pressure. This deficit threatens not only the water from your tap but also economic growth and food production. 'Taking water unsustainably from the environment will have a disastrous impact on our rivers and wildlife. 'We need to tackle these challenges head-on and strengthen work on coordinated action to preserve this precious resource and our current way of life.' Let's Settle It: Is Faux Leather Better Or Worse For The Environment? The Sewage Crisis Isn't Just A Threat To Our Environment, It's Impacting Our Mental Health Too What Happens If… We Actually Exceed 1.5°C In Global Warming?
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Ministers stepping up preparations for renationalisation of Thames Water
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, has said the government is stepping up preparations for temporary nationalisation of Thames Water, indicating it will reject pleas from the company's creditors for leniency from fines and penalties. Thames Water's largest creditors control the utility, and have made a bid to cut some of its debts and provide £5.3bn in new funding to try to turn it around. However, the creditors have said their plan needs considerable leniency from Ofwat, the government's water regulator for England and Wales, and the Environment Agency over fines for environmental failings. The Guardian this month revealed that the creditors had asked for immunity from prosecution for serious environmental crimes in return for taking on the company. Reed on Thursday told parliament that Thames Water must meet its statutory obligations, after being asked about possible 'regulatory easements'. 'Thames Water must meet its statutory and regulatory obligations to their customers and to the environment,' he said. 'It is only right that the company is subject to the same consequences as any other water company. 'The company remains financially stable, but we've stepped up our preparations and stand ready for all eventualities, as I've said before, including special administration regime if that were to become necessary.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion More details soon …
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Climate
- Time of India
UK risks more extreme, prolonged heatwaves in future: Study
This is an AI-generated image, used for representational purposes only. LONDON: The UK could experience more frequent extreme and prolonged heat due to climate change , its meteorological office said Wednesday, as the country braced for its first heatwave of the year. Met Office scientists said the island nation will see the "increased likelihood of extreme temperatures " over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The new study also "highlights how UK heatwaves could become longer and hotter due to escalating climate trends", the Met Office added. According to the research, in the current climate, heatwaves in the UK could persist for "a month or more". The UK, which is known for its frequent showers and mild summers, recorded its first temperature above 40 degrees in 2022. "The chance of exceeding 40 degrees C has been rapidly increasing, and it is now over 20 times more likely than it was in the 1960s," said Gillian Kay, senior scientist at the Met Office. "Because our climate continues to warm, we can expect the chance to keep rising," said Kay, adding there was a 50-per cent chance of seeing a 40-degree day in the next 12 years. Scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions . On Monday, the Met Office said a heatwave was "likely" in much of the UK this week, with the highest temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees. "These findings highlight the need to prepare and plan for the impacts of rising temperatures now," said co-author Nick Dunstone. UK this year experienced its warmest spring on record. It also had the driest spring in over 50 years, with farmers facing damaged crop growth and the government warning about "exceptionally low" water reservoir levels. In May, the Environment Agency's deputy water director, Richard Thompson, warned that "changing climate means we will see more summer droughts in the coming decades".
BBC News
18 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Fire risk fears renewed before Rockliffe 'gasification' plant decision
Residents have raised fresh concerns about plans for a plant that would use rubbish to produce gas, ahead of a planning decision on the scheme being made on have obtained inspection reports from the Environment Agency (EA), seen by the BBC, some of which allege environmental breaches and increased fire risk at North West Recycling's (NWR) waste processing compound near Carlisle in recent proposed plant in Rockcliffe, which would generate electricity, would be part of the same firm pointed to recent EA reports which showed previous fire safety concerns had been addressed and said the project would have "no impact on human health or the environment". A large fire broke out at the waste site in 2021. Documents obtained by the BBC last year revealed EA inspectors, who attended at the time of the fire, alleged NWR had breached regulations on the storage of waste, resulting in a significant fire company denied the allegations and was not prosecuted over the blaze, which was deemed living nearby said the documents raised questions over the safety of the proposed "gasification" has said it would heat commercial and industrial waste such as film plastic and paper that cannot be recycled, so that they break down into a type of gas made up of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and other gas would then be burned to generate electricity for the site and the wider grid, according to the facility's environmental permit. But some people in the Rockcliffe area are worried about pollution and fire Story, a farmer who lives near the site, said "the air was thick" and "everything was noxious" when the 2021 fire said a similar incident, if a new gasification plant was built, would not be a "winning combination". Using Environmental Information Regulations, local opponents of the scheme have obtained more than 20 reports following inspections of NWR by the EA, dating from 2020 to late of the documents allege breaches of the company's environmental permit and the site's fire prevention plan at various Mudge, from Carlisle, sent some of the files to Cumberland Council, when it was considering whether to issue a new environmental permit for the proposed gasification plant. 'Endangering human health' Mr Mudge argued the reports cast doubt on whether the operator would abide by the conditions of any new permit and, therefore, that it should not be the council awarded the permit in April."How can the council be confident this site's going to comply with conditions when you see this record of endangering human health and unsafe fire practices?" Mr Mudge Bamber, on behalf of NWR, did not comment directly on the alleged breaches but pointed to an inspection report from last September and one from April that did not record any said the EA "consider NWR to be a competent and compliant waste management company", supported by the fact the agency had not objected to the gasification project. Mr Bamber said the company had commissioned a number of reports on the scheme's impact and the council's ecologist and Natural England had not raised any Council said it "engaged specialist independent consultants to review key aspects of the proposal and listened carefully to the advice of key specialist government bodies" before granting the environmental added it was "firmly committed" to protecting the public and had no grounds to believe the operator would not comply with the on Cumberland's planning committee are expected to decide whether the gasification plant will get planning permission on Friday, with officers recommending approval. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
