UK: Water bosses could face prison sentences as they clean up sewage-clogged rivers

LONDON (AP) — The bosses of water companies that pollute waterways could go to prison under a new law that the British government says will help clean up the country's waterways. Rivers, lakes and beaches clogged with sewage.

A bill introduced in parliament on Thursday will give regulators the power to ban bonuses for executives of polluting companies and prosecute violators, with executives who obstruct investigations facing up to two years in prison.

The state of Britain’s waterways caused uproar during the campaign for a National elections on July 4For critics of the Conservative Party, which had been in government since 2010, dirty water was a stark symbol of Britain's ageing infrastructure and the impact of the privatisation of key utilities.

The private companies that provide water and sewerage services regularly dump wastewater into waterways when rain overwhelms sewage systems, often dating back to Victorian times. Critics say the companies have failed to invest in upgrading infrastructure – but have continued to pay dividends to their shareholders.

The water companies say they want to invest in upgrades but accuse the financial regulator Ofwat of not allowing them to increase customers' bills enough to finance the improvements.

The center-left Labour Party Government The Prime Minister, elected in July, has promised to clean up the “unacceptable” state of British waters.

Environment Minister Steve Reed said that “water managers will no longer line their own pockets while pumping out this muck.”

The bill, which must be approved by Parliament, would also strengthen the powers of regulators and require water companies to publish real-time data on all wastewater discharges.

Clean water activist Feargal Sharkey said it was good news that “after years of denial there is at least a government willing to accept and acknowledge the scale of the problem”.

However, he added that existing anti-pollution laws are rarely, if ever, applied.

“We don't need new regulations, we don't need new laws. We have laws that have been in place for 35 years and have never been applied,” Sharkey told Sky News. “They should be forced to apply the laws as they are today. That would be a massive step forward.”