Officers
from the Environment Agency are investigating
a spillage of red diesel which has polluted
a river in Catford, in Lewisham, London.
The Environment Agency
received calls from several members of the
public yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, 9 June)
after the River Pool began to smell strongly
of petroleum and showed signs of and oil
based pollution on the river surface, a
rainbow effect.
Officers attended the
site yesterday afternoon and found a substance
spilling into the river via a surface water
outfall. The slick is stretching for more
than a mile down into the Ravensbourne River.
Officers traced the source of the spillage
and sealed it off to stop more diesel entering
the drains. They used booms around the surface
water outfall in the River Pool to stop
any more diesel from spreading downstream.
Currently no dead fish have been recorded,
but the spillage is believed to have affected
some birds along the river.
Environment management
team leader James Liney said: “We were called
to the area late yesterday afternoon after
receiving several calls about the colour
and odour of the river from member of the
public. Officers traced the source of the
diesel and we have deployed booms to stop
the worst of the pollution spreading.
“We are back on site
today to make sure that no more pollution
enters the river and to conduct an investigation
into the cause of the incident. Then we
will start the clean up process in partnership
with other organizations. Hopefully the
recent rain we’ve had will help to wash
the diesel through the system with minimal
impact on local wildlife, but we will continue
to monitor this and our biodiversity team
will be examining the area to see whether
it has damaged local wildlife.
“We are very grateful
to everyone who got in touch with us to
alert us to this issue – members of the
public are our eyes and ears on the ground,
and it is vital that anyone who sees this
sort of thing contacts us on out hotline
so that we can assess the environmental
impact and take appropriate measures to
reduce it if possible.”
Members of the public
can report pollution incidents by calling
the Environment Agency’s emergency hotline
on 0800 80 70 60.
+ More
Environment Agency welcomes
next step in delivering carbon-free coal
power for the UK
The Chairman of the
Environment Agency, Lord Chris Smith, has
welcomed the Government’s consultation on
carbon capture and storage – the next step
towards ‘clean coal’.
The Chairman of the
Environment Agency, Lord Chris Smith, today
(Wednesday) welcomed the Government’s consultation
on carbon capture and storage - the next
step towards ‘clean coal’.
Lord Chris Smith said:
"This is a big
step forward for UK climate policy. The
Government’s decision not to build any new
coal power stations without carbon capture
technology offers real hope of a new era
of ‘clean coal’. It is an essential element
of any sensible energy policy for the next
20 years and is vital in our fight against
climate change.
"The proposal for
up to four large scale demonstration projects
in the UK will help ensure the technology
is robust and we welcome the proposed role
for the Environment Agency in assessing
when the technology is proven and should
be retrofitted.
"The Environment
Agency recognise that there are still some
significant issues to address including
contingency plans should it take longer
than anticipated to prove the technology.
We will be working with the Department for
Energy and Climate Change to ensure such
obstacles are overcome."
ENDS
Media enquiries: Contact
Farooq Mulla on 020 7863 8610 or farooq.mulla@environment-agency.gov.uk
<mailto:farooq.mulla@environment-agency.gov.uk>.
Outside normal office hours, please contact
the National Duty Press Officer on 07798
882 092.
+ More
Bags of opportunity
to sack the plastic and make a pledge for
World Environment Day
Nearly 200 Sussex schoolchildren
entered an Environment Agency competition
in March to design a picture and create
a slogan that will appear on reusable bags
for this year’s World Environment Day celebrations
in the county.
Nearly 200 Sussex schoolchildren
entered an Environment Agency competition
in March to design a picture and create
a slogan that will appear on reusable bags
for this year’s World Environment Day celebrations
in the county.
The three winning designs
and messages now feature on the bags which
will be given out for free by Environment
Agency staff in Worthing town centre at
South Street Square and at Shoreham’s Ropetackle
Centre from 10.30am to 2.30pm on Saturday
6 June for World Environment Day.
On the day East Worthing
and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton and Environment
Agency Area Manager James Humphrys will
be encouraging people in Worthing and Shoreham
to swap their old plastic bags for an eco-friendly
reusable one and to also make a pledge to
make Worthing and Shoreham plastic bag free.
Emma Law of the Environment
Agency said: “We were very impressed by
the high standard of entries and it was
a tough job to pick the final three competition
winners. We wanted entries to focus on environmental
topics related to land, air and water and
the one thing children would like everyone
to do to make their local area a better
place to live.
“The winning designs
now feature on our reusable jute bags that
we will be distributing for free in Worthing
and Shoreham as part of World Environment
Day. We want to help people to improve their
local environment by greatly reducing the
number of plastic bags that are used, so
everyone is welcome to come along and make
their pledge and get one of the bags.
“Discarded plastic bags
are not only an eyesore littering our streets,
they can pollute our beaches and kill wildlife
as well as often ending up in landfill sites
where they take years to biodegrade. That’s
why we want people to support our campaign
to make Worthing and Shoreham plastic bag
free towns.”
Notes to Editors – photo
opportunity
Tim Loughton MP and Environment Agency Area
Manager James Humphrys will be at the World
Environment Day stand in Worthing between
10.30am and 11am and at Shoreham’s Ropetackle
Centre between 11.30am and 11.45am.
