I
Ian Cloke
Guest
TEN thousand fish have been killed in a major pollution incident on a six mile stretch of a Bolton brook.
The dead fish were seen floating on the water at Eagley Brook and the Environment Agency was inundated with calls from the public. One resident in the area said there was blue liquid and foam in the water on Tuesday evening.
Environment Agency officers along with a team from the Fisheries spent most of yesterday taking water samples. The dead fish were all mainly brown trout. The alarm was raised on Tuesday night but it was not until yesterday morning that the authorities realised the scale of the disaster.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency which was supervising the clean-up operation, said the trail of dead fish started near the former Kruger Tissue works at Eagley Brook and continued 11 kilometers down river into the River Tonge. Many of the trout weighed up to 3lbs.
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Mr Jim Tyldesley, chairman of Astley Bridge Fishing Club, which has a stretch of fishing on the Brook, said it was a sickening sight.
"Something has gone into the water to cause this," he said. "I have fished this area for 20 years and never seen anything like this. It is going to take a while to restock the waters."
Mr Tyldesley who was planning to clear the dead fish, was worried that more fish would be washed further downstream in the forecasted heavy rain. Local residents were also shocked at the devastation. Alan Berry, aged 42, of Old Barn Place, Eagley Brook, said: "I walk along this river every day. It's going to kill other wildlife. There are rainbow trout in there and they are dead now."
And Marilyn Davies, of Blackburn Road: "It is a little paradise here, you wouldn't believe you were in Bolton. It is heartbreaking to see. This makes us upset. You start to worry about other animals and children who play in there.
There needs to be some warning. I have never seen so many dead fish and it will take a long time to get them back in again. There always used to be a smell around here and they say it is fine."
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We are investigating the incident and we have had a team at the site all day. We have taken away samples for analysis."
The dead fish were seen floating on the water at Eagley Brook and the Environment Agency was inundated with calls from the public. One resident in the area said there was blue liquid and foam in the water on Tuesday evening.
Environment Agency officers along with a team from the Fisheries spent most of yesterday taking water samples. The dead fish were all mainly brown trout. The alarm was raised on Tuesday night but it was not until yesterday morning that the authorities realised the scale of the disaster.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency which was supervising the clean-up operation, said the trail of dead fish started near the former Kruger Tissue works at Eagley Brook and continued 11 kilometers down river into the River Tonge. Many of the trout weighed up to 3lbs.
continued...
Mr Jim Tyldesley, chairman of Astley Bridge Fishing Club, which has a stretch of fishing on the Brook, said it was a sickening sight.
"Something has gone into the water to cause this," he said. "I have fished this area for 20 years and never seen anything like this. It is going to take a while to restock the waters."
Mr Tyldesley who was planning to clear the dead fish, was worried that more fish would be washed further downstream in the forecasted heavy rain. Local residents were also shocked at the devastation. Alan Berry, aged 42, of Old Barn Place, Eagley Brook, said: "I walk along this river every day. It's going to kill other wildlife. There are rainbow trout in there and they are dead now."
And Marilyn Davies, of Blackburn Road: "It is a little paradise here, you wouldn't believe you were in Bolton. It is heartbreaking to see. This makes us upset. You start to worry about other animals and children who play in there.
There needs to be some warning. I have never seen so many dead fish and it will take a long time to get them back in again. There always used to be a smell around here and they say it is fine."
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We are investigating the incident and we have had a team at the site all day. We have taken away samples for analysis."
