FACTUAL
29 September 2008
Monday 29 September 2008 21:00-21:30 (Radio 4 FM)
Tracey Logan reports on the regular spillages from London's sewage system into the River Thames and the government's proposed solution.
A century and a half after the Great Stink forced politicians to think seriously about a sewer system for London, vast quantities of raw sewage are once again polluting the Thames at an alarming rate. The government has announced plans for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a huge sewer to solve the problem, but completion will not be until 2020 and the project will cost an estimated 2 billion pounds.
Meanwhile, experts warn of the current health risks to river users, including Olympic rowers and canoeists in 2012. Environmentalists fear a repeat of the sewage dump in 2004 that killed thousands of fish.
