Rob
Walsh - 28-Feb-2008 - Conservation organisations
working to protect water voles in the Northumberland
and Durham areas have welcomed this week’s
change in legislation announced by Defra.
The water vole will
now be protected against being intentionally
or recklessly killed, injured, or taken
from the wild from 6 April 2008. Until now,
legislation has only protected the water
vole’s places of shelter.
Environment Agency biodiversity
technical specialist Fiona Morris said:
“This change in legislation is great news
for water voles and will help us in our
struggle to ensure that these wonderful
creatures are not lost from the North East
region.”
“The Environment Agency
is the lead partner for water vole conservation
in the UK, and we will continue to work
with our conservation partners on exciting
new projects and initiatives to protect
this species.”
Water voles have undergone
a catastrophic decline in numbers in the
Northumberland and Durham areas, but a number
of partnership projects in the region have
been successful in securing water vole populations,
with the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB) Water Vole Project being the latest
initiative to launch.
In the North Pennines
AONB the Environment Agency, working in
partnership with Durham, Northumberland
and Cumbria Wildlife Trusts and the North
Pennines AONB Partnership, secured funding
to protect existing water vole populations
and link populations together to secure
their long-term survival. Habitat creation
and improvement work will be done over the
next three years.
Tees Valley Wildlife
Trust and the Environment Agency recently
made habitat improvements along Ormesby
Beck in Middlesbrough. Officers helped clear
away the overgrown vegetation, widen the
channel and re-profiled the banks to improve
the water vole habitat. Several other areas
of poor habitat along the becks in the Tees
Valley will also be improved in future.
These projects follow
the success of the Water Vole Recovery Project
led by Durham Wildlife Trust, working with
the Environment Agency, Natural England,
Durham Biodiversity Partnership and local
authorities to implement a range of ways
to protect water voles in East Durham.
A regional forum has
also been established to enable conservation
organisations to work together to secure
and expand water vole populations in the
North East. Representatives on this forum
include Environment Agency, Tees, Durham
and Northumberland Wildlife Trusts, Northumberland
Biodiversity Partnership, Northumberland
National Park, Durham County Council, Northumbrian
Water and North Pennines AONB Partnership.
+ More
Environment Agency appeals
to members of the public to help catch oil
spill offender
Mike Dunning - 25-Feb-2008
- Members of the public could hold vital
clues to a serious oil spill in the Somerset
village of Mark near Highbridge where a
pollution clean-up operation is under way.
The alarm was raised
last Thursday after thick black oil was
discovered in the Mark Yeo, a drainage rhyne
connecting the River Axe with the River
Brue. The oil is believed to have been deliberately
dumped into the waterway by a mystery person.
Staff and volunteers
from the Secret World Animal Centre were
quickly at the scene rescuing swans, geese
and ducks while Agency officers deployed
two anti-pollution booms and absorbents
to contain the oil.
While several waterbirds
showed clear signs of oil contamination,
no dead fish have been found. The pollution
has affected 2.5 km of watercourse and is
expected to take several days to clean up.
On Friday a third boom
was deployed upstream of the village to
capture any fresh spills of oil. Today Agency
officers believe they discovered the source
of the pollution after heavy oil staining
was found on the western bank of the Mark
Yeo.
The oil is thick in
consistency suggesting it might be waste
oil, ’It looks heavier than diesel and may
have been deliberately dumped. Fortunately,
the booms have prevented the spread of oil
downstream and enabled us to contain the
pollution,’ said Jim Grundy for the Environment
Agency.
‘We would especially
like to hear from anyone who might have
information about this incident. We are
continuing our investigation and looking
at all possible sources for this pollution
that has had a serious impact on the Mark
Yeo,’ said Jim Grundy.
There is an unconfirmed
report that a person was seen pouring waste
industrial oil from a barrel into the Mark
Yeo along the Pill Road between Mark and
Rooks Bridge. Agency officers are following
up this important lead and are keen to identify
the person concerned.
Meanwhile, the rescued
swans, ducks and geese whose feathers were
coated in oil, are recovering at the Secret
World Wildlife Centre where it is understood
they are responding well the treatment.
Anyone with knowledge
of this oil spill can call the Environment
Agency’s free 24-hour incident hotline on
0800 80 70 60.
Contract for flood defence
barriers awarded to Geodesign Barriers
Dave Ferguson - 22-Feb-2008 - Following
a Europe-wide search the Environment Agency
has awarded the contract to provide demountable
defences for parts of Oxford to Geodesign
Barriers Ltd.
The panel-style defences
will be deployed at specific locations on
Osney Island when flooding is expected.
The defences, combined with pumps, are designed
to protect up to 75 properties from flooding
from the river and groundwater levels similar
to that experienced in July last year.
Geodesign Barriers were
BSI Kite-marked in May 2003, and have a
long proven record of success across Europe.
In the UK, the barriers already protect
residents and businesses in Shrewsbury,
Ironbridge, Bewdley, Upton-upon-Severn and
Worcester from the River Severn, as well
as at other locations in Bristol, Yorkshire,
Cumbria, Hampshire, Essex, and Scotland.
Several electrical companies - including
National Grid - also use the system for
their emergency flood protection.
The defences will be
available from May and stored at the Environment
Agency’s Osney Mead depot in Oxford. Environment
Agency staff will be fully trained in deploying
the barriers and an action plan will be
in place to maximise their effectiveness
when flooding is expected.
Rob Alexander, a flood
risk engineer at the Environment Agency,
said: “We are delighted to have awarded
the contract to Geodesign, which met the
rigorous design specifications we set out.
“The defences we have
chosen are the most versatile on the market,
which is precisely what we need in Osney,
and they have already been proven successful
in other parts of the country.”
Britt Warg, UK Manager
at Geodesign, said: “It is very good news
that the residents of Osney Island now will
join many other UK residents in benefiting
from the protection that our strong barrier
provides. Since the 11000s we have shown,
around other parts of Europe and across
the world, just how adaptable and reliable
these types of demountable defences are
for emergency flood response.”
These measures are designed
to protect many of the people and homes
on Osney Island against the most frequently
experienced low order flooding, similar
to recent events experienced in Oxford,
in 2000, 2003 and July 2007. Parts of the
city, including stretches in Osney, were
also at risk in January, but the area largely
avoided flooding.
Mr Alexander continued:
“These flood defences are just one of a
number of solutions which we are looking
at to reduce the impact of flooding in Oxford.
“Since the flooding
in July last year we have been working hard
with residents, local councils and the emergency
services to find suitable short term solutions
for some of the properties at risk of flooding
in Oxford. We are still investigating suitable
sites for the short term measures, and today’s
announcement shows this coordinated response
is moving in the right direction.
“And we are still working
hard on the wider Oxford Flood Risk Management
Strategy, which aims to identify a sustainable
solution to reduce the risk of flooding
to people and properties in Oxford by 2009/10.”
The barriers are made
of galvanized steel and fold flat for storage.
When in use they form an angled barrier
which is covered by metal panels and reinforced
plastic membrane.
This bespoke type of defence is only suitable
in certain areas where it can make a real
difference – it is not suitable for every
area at risk of flooding.
The demountable barriers
will be placed in three separate sections
along parts of East Street, West Street
and South Street to provide protection for
the properties in these areas during flooding.
The total length of the defences will be
approximately 270 metres.
These demountable defences
are the first in a number of measures which
the Environment Agency is looking to implement
over the next 18 months to reduce the risk
of flooding to some of the properties most
at risk in Oxford, and are designed to complement
the wider strategy.
However, future measures
will need to be technically, financially
and environmentally feasible and will have
to compete for funding with other schemes
nationally using the Defra-approved scoring
system.
Mr Alexander added:
“While we are using this solution to reduce
flood risk for parts of Oxford, people should
remember that living in the floodplain is
never without risk.
“We would advise all
residents who live in the floodplain to
have a suitable action plan in place if
the worst happens, and sign up for the Environment
Agency’s free Floodline Warnings Direct
service, which aims to gives at least two
hours warning of any flooding.”
