Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Yet Another Irwell Pollution Incident

I received a phone call this evening informing me that the Irwell had turned white downstream of Bury. So I went up to see how bad it actually was.
The foaming below Warth Fold Weir was as bad as I've ever seen, but thankfully I couldn't see any fish in distress.
Upstream of the weir, the river looked normal, and there was no foaming at the mini weir underneath the Metrolink bridge making me think that the pollution may have been coming from the adjacent industrial park. The EA turned up to investigate just as I was leaving so hopefully they will get to the bottom of it.











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5 comments:

  1. Nick Carter25 April 2012 at 14:25

    the people responsible should be made to drink it

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  2. Meddy Man25 April 2012 at 14:41

    Yet another blow to our river system. There seems to be a lack of care in the Greater Manchester area, and a lack of interest from the EA.

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  3. Danny25 April 2012 at 14:58

    how many more times i have only followed this blog for at most a year and this is the third post that i can remember. it really is beyond a joke now fingers crossed for the fish stocks guys

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  4. otterjack26 April 2012 at 07:29

    Have to disagree with you Meddy man the EA are interested and were in attendance last night with officers trying to track down the source well into the dark. However the Irwell is an urban river with lots of outfalls and connections, it is so easy for an unscrupulous tanker driver to pull up at a roadside drain and empty his toxic contents down it before driving off. We do our best and you only have to see the improvements in habitat and fish stocks to know how far we have come. Sure there will be set backs but with everyone's help and vigilance and groups like this we can make a difference.

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  5. salfordangler26 April 2012 at 12:47

    Very sad to see but can see the frustration and arguments from both sides us anglers hate to see this happen to a river we love and are actively trying to improve but on the flip side having met a number of the EA guys, also anglers, from our region I know for a fact they will be equally keen to catch those responsible the key is for us to work together. The best analogy is how easy is it to find someone who fly tips in a quite area? Not easy and that is possibly the task the EA are faced with. But on the other hand I would want to know all possible fixed sources have been thoroughly investigated. A kick sampling may be on the cards as I know we have sampled that site previously I have been there and done it myself. could be interesting to see the effects ths incident has had. Paul

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