Hayley
Willoughby - 1-Oct-2008 - The Environment
Agency and the Zoological Society of London
have uncovered a new species of fish in
the tidal Thames - the Greater Weever –
one of an astonishing 125 species of fish
known to be found in the river.
The Greater Weever,
a predatory fish, can grow to a length of
half a metre and has venomous spines on
its back and was discovered last week as
part of a two year, joint monitoring programme
looking at fish populations in the tidal
Thames.
The new find will bring
the total recorded number of fish species
in the Thames Estuary up to a grand total
of 125. The 125 species listed have been
caught in the tidal Thames between Fulham
and Tilbury since 1964. A number of the
species listed are resident within the estuary,
with others being considered occasional
visitors or simply passing through into
the freshwater Thames.
During this two year
study over 60 species of fish have been
recorded, including commercially important
species such as Sole, Cod, Sea Bass and
Thornback Ray. Unusual species such as the
Short-Snouted Seahorse and John Dory have
also been recorded. In addition, conservation
species such as the Twaite Shad, European
Eel and River Lamprey have been recorded.
The Thames estuary is
under huge pressures, including new development,
dredging, cargo vessel traffic and commercial
fishing. Data gathered by the Environment
Agency and the Zoological Society of London
from monitoring programmes such as this
one provide vital information for detecting
changes in fish populations.
Environment Agency Fishery
Officer Emma Barton said: “The diversity
and abundance of fish is an excellent indicator
of the health of the Thames estuary. Long-term
monitoring provides us with vital information
that helps shape the way we manage future
development on the estuary.”
Matthew Gollock, Zoological
Society of London’s Thames Conservation
Project Manager, said: “Heavy pollution
in the Thames estuary once left the waterway
devoid of fish species. However, the discovery
of this new species and the blossoming diversity
of fish are hugely indicative of the renaissance
of the estuary.
“The Zoological Society
of London’s partnership with the Environment
Agency will help us to understand much more
about the distribution and behaviour of
the many species and, in the long term,
help us to maintain and conserve the estuary,
and increase its biodiversity.”
+ More
Lack of maintenance
caused Yorkshire Water diesel spill
Stuart Brennan - 2-Oct-2008
- Yorkshire Water have paid out almost £10,000
after pleading guilty in Beverley Magistrates
Court to polluting Beverley and Barmston
Drain, after 11,000 litres of diesel leaked
from a corroded pipe.
On the 11th of December
2007, diesel fuel escaped from a pipe and
entered the environment from the Tophill
Low water treatment works, near Driffield
in East Yorkshire, which supplies clean
drinking water to Hull.
Yorkshire Water Services
Limited (YWSL) were yesterday fined £8,000
and paid £1500 in costs, plus a £15
victims surcharge.
Paul Harley, prosecuting
for the Environment Agency, told the court
that YWSL had discovered that fuel used
to power diesel generators – which are used
to pump water in the event that mains electricity
is lost – had escaped into Beverley and
Barmston Drain.
YWSL notified the Environment
Agency and commenced a clean up operation,
digging drainage sumps and putting absorbent
booms in place across the watercourse.
Environment Agency officers
observed a layer of red diesel on the surface
of the water and saw pools of diesel on
the ground near the storage tanks. Due to
the quantity of fuel in the water, EA officers
quickly turned off automatic pumps at the
Wilfsholme station to prevent diesel being
pumped into the River Hull.
Two specialist waste
management firms were engaged by the EA
and YWSL to clean-up the spill, removing
contaminated water and soil.
EA investigations found
that a corroded pipe which took diesel from
storage tanks to the generator building
had leaked and fuel had escaped from the
duct surrounding the pipe via inspection
hatches. The diesel had flowed over a road
and onto a grassed areas, and also into
surface water drains that feed into the
Barmston and Beverley Drain.
During the clean-up
operation, booms were used to removed diesel
from the water, eight tonnes of sand had
been spread on the road surface and 50 cubic
metres of contaminated soil was removed.
Nine thousand of the 11,000 litres of diesel
had been recovered.
The magistrate said
the maintenance regime for the site did
not include inspection of the diesel pipe,
despite it being easily accessible via the
duct. He said there were no procedures in
place to deal with a fuel spill and no dedicated
oil spill kits on site.
YWSL had paid been between
£35,000 and £40,000 on the cost
of the clean-up and replaced the pipe.
It was noted in
mitigation that there was little or no medium
or long term environmental damage, and no
evidence of fish kills. YWSL had pleaded
guilty at the first opportunity.
