Indeg Jones - 13-Dec-2007
- Environment Agency Wales will be visiting
industrial estates along the rivers Twrch
and Tawe next week. Officers will be knocking
on businesses doors offering free environmental
advice to try to improve the water quality
of local rivers.
On Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 November they
will be visiting companies in Ystradgynlais,
Ystalyfera and Upper Cwm Twrch. Officers will
be working with businesses, in particular
ones that use oils, solvents and chemicals,
to educate them on pollution prevention measures.
This will help improve their environmental
performance and prevent pollution from entering
local rivers.
The quality of the water on stretches of
the Tawe and Twrch has declined in recent
years. With expert advice from Environment
Agency Wales officers, we are hoping that
this decline will be reversed. The work is
being carried out with funding from the Welsh
Assembly Government.
The Agency has carried out several successful
pollution prevention campaigns over the last
few years, including ones at Crofty, Hafod
and Garngoch Industrial Estates. They allow
Officers to form links with local businesses
and promote good environmental working practices.
Hamish Osborn, Environmental Management team
leader, in the Swansea area said:
“Often our first contact with small and medium
businesses (SME’s) is as a result of an environmental
incident. SME’s cause over half of pollution
incidents, and generate over 60 per cent of
the commercial and industrial waste produced
in Wales and England. We want to work with
businesses owners, giving advice on how they
can improve their performance, which can benefit
their pocket as well as our environment.”
+ More
Environment Agency gives nature a helping
hand on the Wandle
Jane Nower - 10-Dec-2007 - Environment Agency
fisheries officers will release nearly 5,000
juvenile fish into the River Wandle on Thursday
6 December 2007, in an attempt to rejuvenate
the river devastated by a pollution incident
earlier this year.
The release marks the first stage in what
will be a long term restoration process. The
batches of one to two year-old chub, dace,
roach and barbel have been specially reared
and trained for life in the wild at the Environment
Agency’s Calverton Fish Farm in Nottinghamshire
and will be released in three areas along
the river.
In September 2007, a chemical spill killed
tens of thousands of fish of varying ages,
sizes and species along a five km stretch
of the River Wandle between Beddington and
Merton. The incident generated an enormous
amount of public concern and the Environment
Agency has been working closely with local
anglers, the Anglers Conservation Association,
the National Trust, the Wandle Trust, Thames
Water Utilities Ltd and independent surveyors
to determine the impact of the spill and decide
on the most effective way to rehabilitate
the river.
Post-pollution survey work by independent
contractor (APEM) and the Environment Agency
has shown that some species of fish were completely
wiped out in the upper reaches of the river,
closest to the pollutant’s origin. However,
at the very bottom of the affected five km
stretch, some fish survived.
Theo Pike of the Wandle Trust said: “The
recent surveys have confirmed the serious
impact of the pollution, but they have also
demonstrated that there is adequate food and
shelter for this limited initial restocking.
This is important because we need to give
nature a helping hand to restore fish stocks
as there are many barriers to the free movement
of fish up and down the river, meaning natural
recolonisation would be very slow.
Tom Cousins, one of the fisheries officers
who will assist with the release of the new
fish, said: “Although it is important that
the river is restocked so that we can spur
on recovery and improve the river we need
to remember that the size, quality and number
of fish lost in the pollution incident means
that it is impossible to physically buy or
collect equivalent fish from elsewhere. It
will take several years before these fish
will be of a size to be of interest to recreational
fishermen, and many years before they approach
the size of those fish lost in the pollution
incident.
“Analysis of scales taken from some of the
fish carcasses that were collected in the
aftermath of the pollution incident, show
that the fish in the Wandle were above average
in size when compared with that expected in
similar rivers in the South of England. This
is because the river was considered a highly
productive river system, containing plenty
of food for the fish.”
Despite these first steps towards nursing
the river back to health, team leader for
the Environment Agency Mike Denbigh commented:
“The Environment Agency plays a dual role
in this situation. Although we are happy that
restocking has begun, our investigation into
this unfortunate incident is progressing well
and we are preparing a case file for our legal
department. With incidents of this severity
it is the Environment Agency's policy to fully
investigate the incident and, where possible,
to gather evidence for submission. Our Enforcement
and Prosecution Policy and Guidance indicates
that, where the evidence exists, the normal
response to such an incident is to prosecute
where the likely offender is identified. Carrying
out a robust investigation and undertaking
legal action is not a quick process.”
Ends
Notes to Editors The opportunity to photograph
the restocking of the Wandle and interview
Environment Agency officers will take place
today Monday 10th December 2007 at Ravensbury
Park, Morden. There is no parking available
on site.
Please make your way to the footbridge over
the Wandle via Ravensbury Lane or Wandle Rd
next to Ravensbury Park.
This restocking is only possible due to the
Environment Agency maintaining a coarse fish
production facility for the entire UK, based
in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. This is the
largest fish farm of its type in Europe and
millions of fish have been reared there. They
are bred from only health certified broodstock
and are specially conditioned in fast flowing
water tanks to enable the young fish the best
chance of survival in a river system upon
release.
This fish farm is paid for and operated using
rod licence income from recreational anglers,
such as those who fish along the River Wandle.
The Environment Agency will continue to monitor,
via APEM and our own work, the fish populations
in the Wandle, and use this data to inform
its decisions on what levels of future restocking
will be required.
