I
Ian Cloke
Guest
Thousands of fish killed
A MAJOR investigation has been launched after cooking oil, raw batter and a detergent were twice dumped in the River Ribble, killing thousands of fish.
Anglers have this week branded the pollution a "catastrophe" after dozens of sea trout, salmon and other river fish and insects died over the weekend.
The waste was first dumped on Thursday night in a road drain on the A59, near Smithies Bridge, Chatburn, and flowed into Swanside Beck in Sawley.
Anglers raised the alarm when they noticed the river had turned milky-white. Emergency officers from the Environment Agency arrived at the scene and built a small dam to stop the pollution from spreading, but further dumping on Friday evening, down the same drain, saw the dam breached, poisoning thousands of fish.
A massive clean-up operation was launched by officers from the agency, who spent the entire weekend battling to contain the incident. A tanker was positioned at Sawley to pump out the pollution and oxygen was pumped into the River Ribble helping the remaining fish to survive. Meanwhile, people were being advised not to enter the river in the Clitheroe area, nor touch any dead fish, which were floating on the surface, until given the all-clear. Scientists are this week continuing to analyse the fish and water samples in the agency's laboratory, however, it is understood that the polluting discharge has now stopped.
Mr Fred Higham, chairman of Ribblesdale Angling Association and pollution officer for Ribble Fisheries Consultative described the incident as the "worst deliberate act of pollution" he had ever witnessed.
"Not only fish have been lost, but undoubtedly much aquatic river life has also been wiped out. It breaks my heart when I see crows ripping into dying fish."
The latest pollution incident comes three weeks after an unknown substance was leaked into Barrow Brook, killing hundreds of trout, eels and other fish and insects. At the time, someone illegally emptied a tanker into a road drain on the A59 ? about 300 yards north of the A671 roundabout ? which caused the deadly pollution in the waterway.
Although officers from the organisation are unable to say at this stage whether or not both incidents are linked, they are "almost certain" that the same polluter twice dumped the waste.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We are fairly certain that the substance, which leaked into the river on Thursday and Friday of last week, was liquid food waste which on further investigations has been revealed to be cooking oil, raw batter and a detergent, possibly bleach. We can also say that the illegal waste had been dumped twice by the same person.
"Pouring any polluting substance down an ordinary drain can obviously cause serious problems. We are appealing to members of the public to be extra vigilant. Should they spot anyone illegally dumping waste into road drains, we would urge them to call our 24-hour freephone hotline number on 0800 807060."
03 August 2006
A MAJOR investigation has been launched after cooking oil, raw batter and a detergent were twice dumped in the River Ribble, killing thousands of fish.
Anglers have this week branded the pollution a "catastrophe" after dozens of sea trout, salmon and other river fish and insects died over the weekend.
The waste was first dumped on Thursday night in a road drain on the A59, near Smithies Bridge, Chatburn, and flowed into Swanside Beck in Sawley.
Anglers raised the alarm when they noticed the river had turned milky-white. Emergency officers from the Environment Agency arrived at the scene and built a small dam to stop the pollution from spreading, but further dumping on Friday evening, down the same drain, saw the dam breached, poisoning thousands of fish.
A massive clean-up operation was launched by officers from the agency, who spent the entire weekend battling to contain the incident. A tanker was positioned at Sawley to pump out the pollution and oxygen was pumped into the River Ribble helping the remaining fish to survive. Meanwhile, people were being advised not to enter the river in the Clitheroe area, nor touch any dead fish, which were floating on the surface, until given the all-clear. Scientists are this week continuing to analyse the fish and water samples in the agency's laboratory, however, it is understood that the polluting discharge has now stopped.
Mr Fred Higham, chairman of Ribblesdale Angling Association and pollution officer for Ribble Fisheries Consultative described the incident as the "worst deliberate act of pollution" he had ever witnessed.
"Not only fish have been lost, but undoubtedly much aquatic river life has also been wiped out. It breaks my heart when I see crows ripping into dying fish."
The latest pollution incident comes three weeks after an unknown substance was leaked into Barrow Brook, killing hundreds of trout, eels and other fish and insects. At the time, someone illegally emptied a tanker into a road drain on the A59 ? about 300 yards north of the A671 roundabout ? which caused the deadly pollution in the waterway.
Although officers from the organisation are unable to say at this stage whether or not both incidents are linked, they are "almost certain" that the same polluter twice dumped the waste.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We are fairly certain that the substance, which leaked into the river on Thursday and Friday of last week, was liquid food waste which on further investigations has been revealed to be cooking oil, raw batter and a detergent, possibly bleach. We can also say that the illegal waste had been dumped twice by the same person.
"Pouring any polluting substance down an ordinary drain can obviously cause serious problems. We are appealing to members of the public to be extra vigilant. Should they spot anyone illegally dumping waste into road drains, we would urge them to call our 24-hour freephone hotline number on 0800 807060."
03 August 2006