On the Ground: Diary of a Whistleblower

For a decade, Rob Forrester has been the unnamed source in breaking news exposing the extent of the sewage crisis. This year, at the end of a Channel 4 docu-drama, ‘Dirty Business’, his identity was finally revealed.I wanted to ask what it cost him. And if he could go back, would he do it again? ***England is a world anomaly. Apart from Chile, it is the only country where water, a natural resource, is owned by private companies that turn a profit. Since water was privatised in 1989, the labyrinthine network of pipes, pumping stations and reservoirs that make up the water and sewerage systems have been owned by companies, beholden to arguably even more complicated networks of global finance.Between these companies and the rivers, stands the regulator - the Environment Agency. 21 years ago, Robert Forrester started work there as a frontline officer. It was a dream job, until he started to notice things were changing. He sounded the alarm. In this episode we ask Rob Forrester how he fought illegal spills (and the broken regulation that allow them) with some spills of his own. Follow host Laura Cole on LinkedIn.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with a friend.