Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Environment Agency's policy is on responding to reports of minor hazardous waste dumping in fresh water systems.

The Environment Agency receives over 100,000 incident reports a year, every one of which is recorded and assessed. The Environment Agency focuses its efforts on where they will have the most impact – so those which pose the greatest risk to the environment.

Any report received by the Environment Agency within its remit which is assessed as having the potential to cause serious or significant harm to the environment or human health will be responded to immediately. Reports which are assessed to have a minor impact on the environment or human health will be logged and used to inform future regulatory interventions where resources allow.