Stop Anaerobic Digester Pollution of Rivers | Afonydd Cymru

Afonydd Cymru and Fish Legal have called on Welsh Government to stop pollution of rivers in Wales from anaerobic digester plants.

In a letter to the Climate Change and Rural Affairs ministers last week, both organisations expressed concerns about the industry, calling for an urgent review of Wales’s planning and regulatory controls over it.

In addition to biogas generation, anaerobic digestion plants are widely regarded as a solution to the disposal of agricultural and other waste material, such as poultry manure.

The industry, however, has caused catastrophic pollution events in Welsh rivers and is also suspected of contributing to high phosphorus levels through the spreading of digestate, its nutrient-rich liquid end-product.

Fish Legal and Afonydd Cymru have now called for a complete review by Welsh Government. In the letter they point to failures in planning by local authorities and in permitting and enforcement by Natural Resources Wales that have created the loopholes which enable the anaerobic digester industry to pollute.

They have also called for an “Appropriate Assessment” of the cumulative impacts of digestate spreading on entire catchments of Special Area of Conservation (SAC)-designated rivers, regardless of local authority or national boundaries.

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