questionText: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of inland waterways that are contaminated by expired mine workings.
answerText: In 2021, the Environment Agency estimated that contaminated groundwater discharged from abandoned metal and coal mines was polluting more than 1,500km (3%) of rivers in England (see Mine waters: challenges for the water environment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))....
heading: Inland Waterways: Pollution