Knowsley Council was fined £5000 in November 2002 by magistrates for an incident where thousands of litres of raw sewage were allowed to spill into a nearby stream in Knowsley Village. The incident came after the Council had been warned about the leak but allowed it to continue. The Council who operate the sewage plant, together with United Utilities who own it, had let the incident happen despite 'numerous warnings'.

"the contract with united utilities was being severed next May"

Knowsley Council, who have supposedly been working with the Environment agency found themselves being prosecuted by them in this incident. Knowsley Council solicitor Peter Sharkey (ironic name!) told the court back then in Nov 2002 that "the contract with United Utilities was being severed next May" It's now August 2003 and time to see if Knowsley Councils promises have been kept. Have they severed the contract with United Utilities?

The Biggest Polluters of Water in the UK

United Utilities themselves are a major polluter of waterways in the UK. In fact they are THE NO 1 polluters, a title which has also earned them a total of £327,000 in fines. This doesn't stop the managers getting fat cat salaries though. Nor does it stop them from harassing customers - threatening to take them to court if they don't pay extortionate rates for drinking water most of us feel wary about drinking anyway.

Below is United Utilities own spin-doctored version of how they see themselves………….

"The Group seeks to manage its total impact on society as a responsible corporate citizen. Environmental, social and economic issues all form part of our decision making, and we work in partnership with the community to implement our policies."

All too often we see public announcements which later turn out to be mere gestures. Knowsley Council said they would sever links with United Utilities and now that it's revealed that United Utilities are polluting our waterways all over the UK - it would seem that the severing of links would be a sensible idea. However - if United Utilities own the sewage plant - what other firms have got facilities in the area which can deal with raw sewage? A lot of raw sewage gets talked in Knowsley Councils debating chambers - that's for sure! Can we seriously expect that a Council which happily lets the likes of Sonae in here to poison us will care a hoot about a few thousand tons of raw sewage leaking?