The government has said that those who pollute the environment will face unlimited penalties under new legislation announced earlier this week (Wednesday 12 July).

The Environment Agency and Natural England can currently only impose a limited £250,000 penalty. This limit will now be lifted, following a government consultation that they say received widespread public support.

The aim of this will be to help those regulators impose fines without lengthy criminal prosecutions. Although, the most serious cases will continue to be taken through criminal proceedings.

In Cornwall, pollution offenses have been a huge talking issue, South West Water (SWW)has been under much scrutiny in the county for polluting Cornish waters. In May, they were fined a record £2.1m for pollution offences after pleading guilty in court.

The environmental group, Surfers Against Sewage, has been key in highlighting sewage alerts in popular swimming spots in the county and has even organised protests against the government and SWW.

The Paddle out Protest will take place on the 20th of May (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)

The Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth, Cherilyn Mackrory, responded to the announcement, Cherilyn said: "I wholeheartedly support fines on polluters. It is right that we enforce the standards we expect for our environment. In parliament, I called for fines imposed on water companies to be used to repair the damage to our waters and fix the problems which caused them – creating the lasting change we need to keep our waters safe. 

"This Government is the first in thirty years to find a lasting and effective solution to countering pollution and environmental damage. For too long we have relied on an antiquated and unreliable system, and since my election, I have worked hard to change this. And now we have.

"We will end the damage done to our environment; we will hold polluters to account with sanctions, we will protect the consumer from paying the cost of fines, and we will commit to preserving and maintaining our climate. We all share a duty of care to keep Cornwall safe, desirable, and healthy, and this is what we are going to do."

Last month, Baroness Jenny Jones joined members of Cornwall's branch of the Green party to present a bottle of 'Chateau Sewage' to Cherilyn Mackrory at her office.

Green party campaigners and Baroness Jenny Jones outside Cheilyn's office. (Image: Green Party)

Local councillor and Labour parliamentary candidate, Janye Kirkham, also responded to the new legislation. Jayne said:

"The Conservatives have had 13 years to fix this. They also had two opportunities to vote for Labour amendments or a bill that would have helped but decided not to both times. 

"The next Labour Government will end the sewage scandal, delivering mandatory monitoring on all sewage outlets, introducing automatic fines for discharges, setting ambitious targets for stopping systematic sewage dumping, and ensuring that water bosses are held to account for negligence."

It seems that a large amount of the public are still skeptical about businesses being held to account for pollution offences despite the new legislation.