Discharge of Duty

Moisture provision profiteers who "recklessly" discharge sewage may soon be rewarded by the Environment Agency with less than top marks. After only a decade or two of crumbling infrastructure, spiralling costs and mass cloacalisation of every waterway in England, there are one or two worries within the EA that certain companies may be treating their high ratings as an excuse for high executive pay, rather than awarding high executive pay with or without excuse as God, the markets and the sainted Thatcher ordained. Under the current rules, companies are judged by the length of their sewer networks, which is almost as helpful as judging politicians by the content of their speeches; and as one would expect from its title, the Enviroment Agency has hitherto taken little or no interest in the environmental impact of sewage dumping, although it does award brownie points for openness.