Crap Towns / Plymouth / Pollution incidents
How often does Plymouth get polluted?
16 serious pollution incidents have been recorded in Plymouth or within 1 km of it since 2016, the joint 43rd most of the 948 English towns that have had one. 1 was major, the worst kind. The most recent came in May 2026 and put unidentified oil in the water. Crude sewage turned up in 5 of them.
| When | What | Where | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Unidentified oil | In the water | Significant |
| February 2026 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| October 2025 | Hydrocarbons | In the air | Significant |
| September 2025 | An unidentified pollutant | In the air | Significant |
| June 2025 | An unidentified pollutant | In the air | Significant |
| January 2025 | Batteries, metal wastes, waste oil and vehicle parts | On the land | Significant |
| February 2024 | Unidentified oil | In the water | Significant |
| September 2022 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| July 2021 | Diesel | On the land | Significant |
| September 2020 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| July 2020 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| November 2019 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| May 2019 | Asbestos | On the land | Significant |
| October 2017 | Noise | In the air | Significant |
| August 2016 | Crude sewage | In the water | Major |
| June 2016 | Odour | In the air | Significant |
| Town | Distance | Serious incidents since 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Plymouth | – | 16 |
| Saltash | 7.3 km | 1 |
| Torpoint | 6.1 km | 1 |
| Totnes | 31.4 km | 1 |