“28. There are three stages to the treatment of effluent in the STW. 29. In the primary stage all flows enter a new balancing tank. They are then screened before being passed into the old balancing tank. The balancing tanks even out the flows. Thereafter all flows are passed forward into the primary settlement tanks where typically around 50% of the solid matter will settle out. The effluent receives its first dose of ferric as it passes into these primary tanks. 30. Settled primary effluent then overflows from the primary tanks to two distributor chambers whence the primary effluent is sent to the four biological filters. At this secondary stage biological treatment occurs as bacteria in the filters digest the biological content of the effluent. The effluent passes from these filters to the humus tanks. 31. There are four small and one large humus tank. The effluent receives a second small dose of ferric to assist settlement in these tanks. At this point the effluent in most STWs would be classed as secondary treated and ready for discharge. However at Llanberis the effluent goes through an additional (tertiary) process. 32. From the humus tanks the treated effluent is passed through four sand filters to remove any residual suspended matter including precipitated phosphorous. At present, there is also an additional BluePRO sand filter which was originally installed as a trial to evaluate the efficiency of this technology as an additional innovative method of further reducing phosphorous content of the final effluent. This can process up to 14 litres of treated effluent per second. The trial was successful and a second BluePRO sand filter will be installed. This system will be fully commissioned and operational for31 March 2016 . 33. Once the treated effluent is passed through this three stage process, it is discharged through the final effluent channel. The quantity of the final effluent being discharged is monitored by an ‘Mcerted’ flow meter which can measure flow in l/sec or m³/day. ‘Mcerted’ means that the meter accuracy is independently audited. In addition there is a sampling point where samples of final (tertiary tested) effluent can be collected and tested visually on site or sent for laboratory analysis.”
“22. The Llanberis Village SPS is the terminal SPS for the main part of the village, and hence takes most of the effluent flow from the town. There are two rising mains from this terminal SPS to the STW. (1) The dry rising main – this is used to pump the base level of the town’s sewage to the STW where it passes via the inlet works into the balancing tanks. (2) The storm water rising main – this is used to prevent flooding when rainfall causes levels in the public sewers to rise. This storm water is also pumped to the STW where it passes into four storm water storage tanks. 23. The dry weather flow main can transfer flows at a rate of up to 20 litres per second. At the STW, the effluent in the dry weather flow main is screened and balanced before it passes through the full treatment process. 24. In dry weather, only the dry weather flow main operates. During times of heavy rainfall when the dry weather flow main is pumping at 20 litres per second (i.e. at full capacity), the storm water main automatically starts to transfer the storm water to the STW. The storm water main can transfer flows at a rate of up to 80 litres per second. 25. The effluent from the storm water main goes direct to the four storm water tanks at the STW which hold a total of 150m³ of storm water. When incoming flow reduces sufficiently, the effluent stored in the storm water tanks is pumped into the balancing tank before it passes through the full treatment process. 26. Effluent from the storm water storage tanks will only discharge directly into Afon y Bala if (1) the dry weather flow main is pumping base flow of 20 litres per second, and (2) the storm tanks are full to capacity and thus overflowing. There is a flow meter on the storm water tanks so that the overflow rate can be measured in l/sec or m³/day. 27. The Claimant’s case notes that discharges from the storm water tanks are of untreated sewage. In fact, the storm water effluent undergoes a settlement stage before discharge and is highly diluted at the point of discharge.”
“… terrestrial or aquatic areas distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural.”
“In agreement with each Member State concerned, the Commission shall identify, for sites of Community importance for which co-financing is sought, those measures essential for the maintenance or re-establishment at a favourable conservation status of the priority natural habitat types and priority species on the sites concerned, as well as the total costs arising from those measures.”
“37. … [T]he ultimate objective of [the WF Directive] is to achieve, by coordinated action, ‘good status’ of all EU surface waters by 2015. 38. The environmental objectives that the Member States are required to achieve are specified in article 4(1) of [the WF Directive]. 39. That provision imposes two objectives that are separate, although intrinsically linked. First, in accordance with article 4(1)(a)(i) of [the WF Directive], the Member States are to implement the necessary measures to prevent deterioration of the status of all bodies of surface water (obligation to prevent deterioration). Second, pursuant to article 4(1)(a)(ii) and (iii), the Member States are to protect and restore all bodies of surface water with the aim of achieving good status by the end of 2015 at the latest (obligation to enhance). 40. The origin of those two objectives is apparent from the drafting history of [the WF Directive]. So far as concerns in particular the obligation to prevent deterioration of the status of surface waters, the provisions at issue, in their initial version, could be interpreted as allowing bodies of water classified above ‘good status’ to deteriorate to that class once [the WF Directive] was adopted. It is for that reason that the European Parliament proposed an amendment enabling a distinction to be drawn between the obligation to achieve ‘good status’ and that of preventing any deterioration by the insertion in article 4(1) of the Directive of a new indent laying down the latter obligation separately.”
“17. ‘Surface water status’ is the general expression of the status of a body of water, determined by the poorer of its ecological status and its chemical status. 18. ‘Good surface water status’ means the status achieved by a surface water body when both its ecological status and its chemical status are at least ‘good’. … 21. ‘Ecological status is an expression of the quality of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems associated with surface waters, classified in accordance with Annex V. 22. ‘Good ecological status’ is the status of a body of surface water, so classified in accordance with Annex V. 23. ‘Good ecological potential’ is the status of a heavily modified or an artificial body of water, so classified in accordance with the relevant provisions of Annex V. 24. ‘Good surface water chemical status’ means the chemical status required to meet the environmental objectives for surface waters established in article 4(1)(a), that is the chemical status achieved by a body of surface water in which concentrations of pollutants do not exceed the environmental quality standards established in Annex IX and under article 16(7), and under other relevant Community legislation setting environmental quality standards at Community level.”
“The values of the biological quality elements for the surface water body type show low levels of distortion resulting from human activity, but deviate only slightly from those normally associated with the surface water body type under undisturbed conditions.” “Moderate” status is defined as: “The values of the biological quality elements for the surface water body type deviate moderately from those normally associated with the surface water body type under undisturbed conditions. The values show moderate signs of distortion resulting from human activity and are significantly more disturbed than under conditions of good status.”
“There are slight changes in the composition and abundance of planktonic taxa compared to the type-specific communities. Such changes do not indicate any accelerated growth of algae resulting in undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water body or to the physicochemical quality of the water or sediment. A slight increase in the frequency and intensity of the type-specific planktonic blooms may occur.”
“Temperature, oxygen balance, pH, acid neutralising capacity, transparency and salinity do not reach levels outside the range established so as to ensure the functioning of the ecosystem and the achievement of the values specified above for the biological quality elements. Nutrient concentrations do not exceed the levels established so as to ensure the functioning of the ecosystem and the achievement of the values specified above for the biological quality elements.”
“The values for physicochemical elements are within the ranges established so as to ensure the functioning of the ecosystem and the achievement of the values specified above for each of the biological quality elements. Temperature and pH do not reach levels outside the ranges established so as to ensure the functioning of the ecosystem and the achievement of the values specified above for the biological quality elements. Nutrient concentrations do not exceed the levels established so as to ensure the functioning of the ecosystem and the achievement of the values specified above for the biological quality elements.”
“[T]he concept of ‘deterioration of the status’ of a body of surface water in article 4(1)(a)(i) of [the WF Directive] must be interpreted as meaning that there is a deterioration as soon as the status of at least one of the quality elements, within the meaning of Annex V to the Directive, falls by one class, even if that fall does not result in a fall in classification of the body of surface water as a whole.”
“A different interpretation of that concept would… deter Member States from preventing deterioration of the status of a body of surface water within a status class. Since classification of a body of surface water depends on the poorest value of the applicable parameters, all the other values could be reduced without that having legal consequences.”
“As set out in article 174 of the Treaty, the Community policy on the environment is to contribute to pursuit of the objectives of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, in prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources, and to be based on the precautionary principle and on the principle that preventative action should be taken, environmental damage should, as a matter of priority, be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay.”
“Member States will not be in breach of this Directive when: – failure to achieve good ground water status, good ecological status or, where relevant, good ecological potential or to prevent deterioration in the status of a body of surface water or ground water is the result of new modifications to the physical characteristics of a surface water body or alterations to the level of bodies of groundwater, or – failure to prevent deterioration from high status to good status of a body of surface water is the result of new sustainable human development activities and all the following conditions are met (a) all practicable steps are taken to mitigate the adverse impact on the status of the body of water (b) the reasons for those modifications or alterations are specifically set out and explained in the river basin management plan required under article 13 and the objectives are reviewed every six years; (c) the reason for those modifications or alterations are of overriding public interest and/or the benefits to the environment and to society of achieving the objectives set out in paragraph 1 are outweighed by the benefits of the new modifications or alterations to human health, to the maintenance of human safety or to sustainable development, and (d) the beneficial objectives served by those modifications or alterations of the water body cannot for reason of technical feasibility or disproportionate cost be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option.”
“… to establish a framework of environmental liability based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage.”
“(2) The prevention and remedying of environmental damage should be implemented through the furtherance of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, as indicated in the Treaty and in line with the principle of sustainable development. The fundamental principle of this Directive should therefore be that an operator whose activity has caused the environmental damage or the imminent threat of such damage is to be held financially liable, in order to induce operators to adopt measures and develop practices to minimise the risks of environmental damage so that their exposure to financial liabilities is reduced.” “(13) Not all forms of environmental damage can be remedied by means of the liability mechanism. For the latter to be effective, there need to be one or more identifiable polluters, the damage should be concrete and quantifiable, and a causal link should be established between the damage and the identified polluter(s). Liability is therefore not a suitable instrument for dealing with pollution of a widespread, diffuse character, where it is impossible to link the negative environmental effects with acts or failure to act of certain individual actors.” “(15) Since the prevention and remedying of environmental damage is a task directly contributing to the pursuit of the Community’s environmental policy, public authorities should ensure the proper implementation and enforcement of the scheme provided for by this Directive.” “(18) According to the ‘polluter pays’ principle, an operator causing environmental damage or creating an imminent threat of such damage should, in principle, bear the costs of the necessary preventative or remedial measures. In cases where a competent authority acts, itself or through a third party, in the place of an operator, that authority should ensure that the cost incurred by it is recovered from the operator. It is also appropriate that the operators should ultimately bear the cost of assessing environmental damage and, as the case may be, assessing an imminent threat of such damage occurring.”
“This Directive shall only apply to environmental damage or to an imminent threat of such damage caused by pollution of a diffuse character, where it is possible to establish a causal link between the damage and the activities of individual operators.”
“ ‘damage’ means a measurable adverse change in a natural resource or measurable impairment of a natural resource service which may occur directly or indirectly.”
“ ‘protected species and natural habitats" means: (a) the species mentioned in article 4(2) of Directive 79/409/EEC [i.e. “the Wild Birds Directive”] or listed in Annex I thereto or listed in Annexes II and IV to [the Habitats Directive]; (b) the habitats of species mentioned in article 4(2) of [the Wild Birds Directive] or listed in Annex I thereto or listed in Annex II to [the Habitats Directive], and the natural habitats listed in Annex I to [the Habitats Directive] and the breeding sites or resting places of the species listed in Annex IV to [the Habitats Directive]; and (c) where a Member State so determines, any habitat or species, not listed in those Annexes which the Member State designates for equivalent purposes as those laid down in these two Directives.”
“ ‘environmental damage’ means: (a) damage to protected species and natural habitats, which is any damage that has significant adverse effects on reaching or maintaining the favourable conservation status of such habitats or species. The significance of such effects is to be assessed with reference to the baseline condition, taking account of the criteria set out in Annex I; Damage to protected species and natural habitats does not include previously identified adverse effects which result from an act by an operator which was expressly authorised by the relevant authorities in accordance with provisions implementing Article 6(3) and (4) or Article 16 of [the Habitats Directive] or Article 9 of Directive 79/409/EEC [the Wild Birds Directive] or, in the case of habitats and species not covered by Community law, in accordance with equivalent provisions of national law on nature conservation. (b) ‘water damage’, which is any damage that significantly adversely affects the ecological, chemical and/or quantitative status and/or ecological potential, as defined in [the WF Directive], of the waters concerned, with the exception of adverse effects where Article 4(7) of that Directive applies;… (c) ‘land damage’, which is any land contamination that creates a significant risk of human health being adversely affected as a result of the direct or indirect introduction, in, on or under land, of substances, preparations, organisms or micro-organisms.”
“ ‘Conservation status’ means: (a) in respect of natural habitat, the sum of the influence acting on a natural habitat and its typical species that may affect its long-term natural distribution, structure and functions as well as the long-term survival of its typical species within, as the case may be, the European territory of the Member State to which the Treaty applies or the territory of a member state or the natural range of that habitat. The conservation status of a natural habitat will be taken as ‘favourable’ when: – its natural range and areas it covers within that range are stable or increasing, – the specific structure and functions which are necessary for its long-term maintenance exist and are likely to continue to exist for the foreseeable future, and – the conservation status of its typical species is favourable as defined in (b). (b) in respect of a species, the sum of influences acting on the species that may affect the long-term distribution and abundance of its populations within, as the case may be, the European territory of the Member State to which the Treaty applies or the territory of a member state or the natural range of that species. The conservation status will be taken as ‘favourable’ when: – population dynamics data on the species concerned indicate that it is maintaining itself on a long-term basis as a viable component of its natural habitats, – the natural range of the species is neither being reduced nor is likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future, and – there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis.”
“The competent authority shall require that the preventative measures are taken by the operator…”; and, by article 6(3), where environmental damage has occurred: “The competent authority shall require that the remedial measures are taken by the operator.”
“In particular, the loading of phosphates has grown to such an extent that this is no longer an oligotrophic or nutrient-free water body and is deteriorating. The phosphate inputs have caused environmental damage to the habitat and to the fishery – including to the unique population of genetically distinct Arctic charr. This is also a SSSI which has been so designated partly due to the presence of this species. Our members’ fishing has suffered as a consequence of the pollutions. In fact, the standard of the angling for salmon and sea trout has now plummeted and continues to be in free fall.”
“[NRW] should make sure that Dŵr Cymru does not delay in sorting out all the misconnections to the sewer, stop infiltration, introduce complete treatment for storm-related sewage or start to separate surface run-off water from sewage which flows to treatment at the works in Llanberis. That way they will ensure that the lake has at least a chance of recovering.”
“This is due to the weight of evidence of a change in status in the phytoplankton quality element in the 2012 assessment. The change in status is directly attributable to the algal bloom in 2009. The [Llanberis STW] has been identified as the source of the nutrients that caused the bloom.”
“In 2010, NRW imposed a regulator-initiated permit variation. The permit variation reduced phosphate limits from 1.6 to 1.0 mg/l. NRW considers that thus far, the measures implemented by the operator to comply with the revised permit limits should result in the phytoplankton quality element achieving good ecological potential in the next WF [Directive] ecological status assessment in 2015. Other elements, notably [DO] are at less than good WF [Directive] status and lake modelling has identified that further reduction in nutrient levels entering the lake would enhance the protection afforded to the ecosystem supporting the species and habitats in the Padarn SSSI.”
“In its fresh consideration, [NRW] will also take into account all environmental damage caused by an emission, event or incident taking place after30 April 2007 if it derives from an activity which started before that date but which was not finished before then.”
“(g) In any event, when it comes to the SSSI (of which the charr is a designated conservation feature) the ‘baseline condition’ for reference purposes should be the undamaged status of the SSSI. At present, as above, it is well below that status. In respect of nutrient enrichment it is being maintained at that degraded level (something which NRW’s erroneous focus on 2009 damaged state as providing the ‘baseline’ leads it to think is acceptable) by the ongoing pollution in play here. If pollution load was removed (or even drastically reduced) then over time, the charr population and its habitat, and thus the SSSI, would gradually recover to the true ‘baseline condition’. A significant and adverse environmental pressure on it would be released. (h) The [Dŵr Cymru] pollution is at the very least holding water quality at a steady – worse – level rather than allowing it to recover. That, in itself, is ongoing ‘environmental damage’, which NRW has failed even to address. But the situation is actually deteriorating when the information on [DO] and charr is taken into consideration.”
“33. … [T]he lake is becoming ‘eutrophic’ (or nutrient-rich) because treated and untreated sewage entering the lake contains substantial quantities of phosphates which increase the [TP] levels in the water. 34. Those increased levels of nutrients create conditions that can (and do) significantly increase the growth of algae from what would naturally be in the water. That increase in algal growth in turn reduces water quality because, when algae die, they sink to the bottom of the lake and decompose. As this process happens, it in turn depletes the level of oxygen in the water (known as [DO]), upon which the charr depend for survival. The impact is greater with higher levels of nutrients and it is not necessary for there to be a visible and dramatic bloom (such as occurred with the toxic bloom of 2009) for this to happen to varying degrees each year. 35. That, in turn, limits the suitability of the lake for Arctic charr.”
“In some cases species or habitats on a site may already be in a poor condition or severely damaged and an emission, event or incident may further damage them or prevent them from recovering. Such cases should not automatically be excluded. Consideration should be given to the extent to which it affects their recovery potential as well as the timing, scale and severity of the effect.”
“The Welsh Ministers being designated for the purposes ofsection 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 make these Regulations under the powers conferred by that section as read with paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to that Act. The Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of, and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to, theEuropean Communities Act 1972 and it appears to the Welsh Ministers that it is expedient for the Community instruments referred to in these Regulations to be construed as references to those instruments as amended from time to time.”
“… at any time after its passing Her Majesty may by Order in Council, and any designated Minister or department may by order, rules, regulations or scheme, make provision — (a) for the purpose of implementing any EU obligation of the United Kingdom, or enabling any such obligation to be implemented, or of enabling any rights enjoyed or to be enjoyed by the United Kingdom under or by virtue of the Treaties to be exercised; or (b) for the purpose of dealing with matters arising out of or related to any such obligation or rights or the coming into force, or the operation from time to time, of subsection (1) above;…”
“Legislation to protect and require remediation for damage to the environment already exists in the UK. In Wales, this legislation includes theWater Resources Act 1991 ,Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 , [the 1981 Act] and theEnvironment Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 . In some respects, this legislation already fulfilled the policy requirements of the Directive. For example, operators who cause damage can be required to take steps to remediate that damage. Having carefully considered the options, the Assembly Government decided to make separate regulations which will supplement the existing legislation. It was considered inappropriate to ‘gold plate’ the Directive by extending all its requirements (for example, complementary and compensatory remediation) to all damage covered by existing legislation, some of which is well below the thresholds in the Directive. However, the Assembly Government was also reluctant to lose the protection provided by existing legislation which is not provided by the Directive, again because of damage thresholds. A consolidation of the two regimes was therefore not appropriate. Implementation by way of amendment to existing legislation would have been difficult to understand, and would not have fully transposed the Directive without freestanding regulations as well.”
“«dommages»; une modification négative measurable d’une resource naturelle ou une détérioration mesurable d’un service lié a des resources naturelles, qui peut survenir de manière directe ou indirecte.”
“The significance of such effects is to be assessed with reference to the baseline condition, taking account of the criteria in Annex I…”
“The significance of damage that has adverse effects on reaching or maintaining the favourable conservation status of habitats or species has to be assessed by reference to the conservation status at the time of the damage, the services provided by the amenities they produce and their capacity for natural regeneration. Significant adverse changes to the baseline condition should be determined by means of measurable data.”
“… the species’ or habitat’s capacity, after damage has occurred, to recover within a short time, without any intervention other than increased protection measures, to a condition which leads, solely by virtue of the dynamics of the species or habitat, to a condition deemed equivalent or superior to the baseline condition.”
“Increased levels of nutrients in the water cause higher levels of algae including, but not limited to, overt “blooms”
“[T]he biological elements used in the WF [Directive] classification have returned to ‘good’ or ‘high’ status, although the [DO] physicochemical element of classification remains ‘less than good’ thus preventing the WF [Directive] status of the lake reaching ‘good’. As discussed in this section the combination of continuing nutrient inputs into the lake with historic sediment loading would appear to be the factors limiting this element. Evidence suggests that the impact from historic sediments produced by eutrophication can take many years to return a lake into good DO status despite other trophic indices such as TP being good”
“[V]ery low oxygen levels in the deeper cooler waters will still impose a restriction in the area of preferred habitat suitable for these fish… The size of the available habitat to Arctic charr was particularly reduced during the month of September 2013…” (paragraphs 138 and 141 of the 2014 decision document).”
“[A]ny measures taken in response to an event, act or omission that has created an imminent threat of environmental damage, with a view to preventing or minimising that damage”