A LANDMARK law which will commit to a ‘major’ clamp down on water firms found responsible for polluting Barnsley’s waterways has been lauded by a local MP.

Marie Tidball, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, welcomed the Labour government’s move to give regulators new powers over water company bosses.

It is the most significant increase in enforcement powers in a decade, according to the government, and delivers on Labour’s manifesto pledge to clean up the water sector.

The new law imposes tougher penalties for law-breaking - including potential imprisonment for water bosses - if companies fail to co-operate or obstruct investigations.

Official Environment Agency figures show there were 212 water pollution incidents in Barnsley between 2018 and 2023, just 53 of which were visited immediately by those responsible.

This means they were attended within two hours of a report coming in, or within four hours outside of the normal working day a definition set by the organisation.

Of the 159 of those not visited immediately, four were category two incidents, which are classed as having a ‘significant impact’.

The remainder were category three, meaning they were judged as having a ‘minor or minimal’ impact on the environment.

The 69-mile-long River Don - which flows through the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency - had almost 1,400 spills from Yorkshire Water alone, or 7,891 hours in total.

Silkstone Beck, which runs from Silkstone Common towards Barnsley, and Highwood Dike, near Wortley, have also been subject to serious sewage dumping.

Marie said: “The Labour government’s immediate action against this behaviour is very welcome and demonstrates that we will not tolerate water executives lining their own pockets at the expense of our environment.

“Toxic sewage dumping from water companies affects our entire constituency, with the beautiful River Don and its tributaries running from Dunford Bridge through Penistone.

“This bill is a major step forward in fixing our broken water system.

“The Labour government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform how the water industry is run, and speed up the delivery of upgrades to our sewage infrastructure to clean up our waterways for good.”

Water pollution is the release of substances into bodies of water that makes water unsafe for human use and disrupts aquatic ecosystems.

It can be caused by a plethora of different contaminants, including toxic waste, petroleum and disease-causing microorganisms.

Poor water quality was dubbed a key factor in salmon populations becoming extinct due to the area’s industrial past and a lack of action to remediate the issue.

Environment Agency bosses said there are many reasons for not visiting pollution incidents straight away, with some being handled remotely or through emergency services.

A spokesperson said: “We assess and record every incident report we receive, between 70,000 and 100,000 a year.

“We respond to every incident and always attend those where there is a significant risk.

“We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute companies that are deliberately obstructive or misleading.

“While criminal prosecutions can be lengthy processes, since 2015 we have concluded 63 prosecutions against water companies securing fines of over £151m.

“We are recruiting more staff, increasing compliance checks and water company inspections, and visiting more water pollution incidents.”

Barnsley North MP Dan Jarvis warned the figures could even be under-reported.

“Water is not just another commodity, it’s a vital public resource we have to manage it fairly and we have to manage it effectively.

“Above all, we have to manage it for the public good.

“Take sewage the figures are almost certainly under-estimates, because the previous government slashed monitoring budgets.

“Left to police themselves, water companies have inevitably under-reported releases.

“The Environment Agency’s £1.6bn budget looks generous, but three-fifths goes to much-needed flood prevention.

“Since 2010, environmental protection funding has dropped 80 per cent, and for enforcement 40 per cent.

“Prosecutions fell from almost 800 in 2007/08 to just 17 in 2020/21, while farms are inspected on average once in 200 years.

“The task to reform the water industry is huge and we have to get it right.

“This is not some operational issue solved by small tweaks to the failing system.

“It’s a systemic problem requiring transformative action.”