16/03/2006 - A day out
by the river for the Environment Agency’s
Karen Farr turned into a thrilling airborne
adventure, when she spotted environmental
polluters and pinpointed them from a helicopter
flying over the area. Over to Karen: “I
was walking along the banks of the River
Tyne on Thursday, when I spotted some oily
iridescence polluting the surface of the
river.
“I was trying to work out where it had
come from, and not having much success,
when I saw the helicopter from Newcastle
Heliport go up and down a couple of times.
“On the off-chance that they could help
me out and tell me where the oil was coming
from, I rang them and left a message. When
they rang back, they said they were going
up again in ten minutes and I was welcome
to join them with my camera! I didn't need
to be asked twice and having checked with
my team leader, went to the helipad just
up the road.
“I met the pilots from Eagle Helicopters
and had a safety briefing. They told me
they were doing tracking tests on the rotor
blades, and so they were going up again.
I was a bit overexcited but tried to focus
on the task.
“The view was incredible and it was clear
the oil was coming from one particular point
on the riverbank. I got some great photos
and now have a very useful contact for the
future.
“The pilots said they often saw oil on
the river in the North Shields area and
could pinpoint from the air exactly which
trawler is responsible. This could be a
very useful way to cut down response and
investigation times for Tyne pollution incidents,
as oil slicks can be difficult to trace
in estuarine rivers.”
Anyone who has information on Tyne oil
slicks or any other kind of pollution is
asked to ring the Environment Agency’s hotline
on 0800 80 70 60
