The firm must bear any costs incurred, and can be taken to court if it does not carry out the work. Companies must take preventative measures against pollution Until now, the Environment Agency only had limited pollution prevention powers, focused on businesses who have the go-ahead to discharge waste into rivers. Builders, in particular, have escaped censure - even though the construction industry accounted for 625 reported pollution incidents per day across England and Wales last year. Despite campaigns by the agency to raise pollution prevention awareness on building sites, the number of cases continues to increase. Many of these involve discharges of silt or spills of oil stored on building sites.
Firms are reluctant to spend money on precautions because the sites are often temporary.
The Environment Agency says the new powers make sense environmentally and financially, as the costs of cleaning up pollution could be higher than preventing it. The Environment Agency is keen to hear from people with information about serious potential water pollution problems. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.