Tess Colley

🚨EXCLUSIVE 🚨 After obtaining reams of internal docs, I have a new story out revealing how govt has sat on plans to tighten rules letting water companies SELL sewage sludge fertiliser contaminated with PFAS & microplastics. Read it in @guardian, and.. theguardian.com/environment/20…

22 tonnes of microplastics are dumped on farms PER DAY via sewage sludge, my latest investigation has revealed. Emails & docs I obtained through FOI have exposed how this & other alarming warnings from the EA have been sat on for years. Read the story 👇 theguardian.com/environment/20…

🚨EXCLUSIVE 🚨 After obtaining reams of internal docs, I have a new story out revealing how govt has sat on plans to tighten rules letting water companies SELL sewage sludge fertiliser contaminated with PFAS & microplastics. Read it in @guardian, and.. theguardian.com/environment/20…

This includes staff at the regulator warning 3 years ago that practically all microplastics entering sewage treatment works end up in sludge bound for farmland. My investigation has revealed that this is estimated to be 22 TONNES of microplastics per day. theguardian.com/environment/20…

These docs have revealed the extent to which the EA has sought to persuade the government to implement its plans to tighten the regulatory net on sludge, including eye-watering evidence of the risk of not doing so - and how the agency was ignored. theguardian.com/environment/20…

Last year, lawyers representing @FightDirtyOrg took the EA to court over whether its decision to remove a deadline for reforming sludge regulations was unlawful. The group lost its case - but via FOI I got hold of the docs submitted by the EA. theguardian.com/environment/20…

For years, the Environment Agency advised ministers sewage sludge could be spreading toxic waste & microplastics over farmland. For years they were ignored. @TessColley writes: share.google/mpssPq9OOP8HXY…

Read my full investigation @TheENDSReport for details on: ❗️The 22 tonnes of microplastics dumped on farms per day via sludge (equal in weight to about 3.6 MILLION plastic bags) 🇺🇸Why closure of sludge-impacted farms in the US should make the UK sit up 👉endsreport.com/1923968/

Huge news ⚠️ The government has sat on plans to tighten sewage sludge rules for 3 YEARS despite the EA warning of serious contamination from pollutants like #PFAS & #microplastics! Read @TessColley's investigation now (outside our paywall - for now!) ⬇️ endsreport.com/article/1924752