Rita
Penman - 18-Apr-2008 - Local malt manufacturing
company, Muntons, has been prosecuted for
causing a major pollution of the River Gipping
at Stowmarket in July 2007 killing thousands
of fish.
Untreated effluent from
the company’s treatment plant discharged
into the river causing the pollution which
was reported to the Environment Agency by
a member of the public who had smelt sewage
and seen dead fish floating in the river
at Badley, south-east of Stowmarket.
Muntons Plc of Cedars
Maltings, Stowmarket, Suffolk was fined
£13,334 and ordered to pay full Environment
Agency costs of £6,145.
Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’
Court heard today (Fri) that more than 5,000
dead fish, including 270 pike, more than
2,000 roach and 1,150 chub of various sizes
were collected in a 1.5km stretch of river
between Muntons and Badley Mill and that
large amounts of sewage fungus was observed
in the same stretch of river.
A biology survey showed
there had been acute organic pollution which
had had a considerable impact on the biology
in the river.
Miriam Tordoff, prosecuting
for the Environment Agency, told the court
that officers investigating the pollution
traced it to the discharge pipe from Muntons’
effluent treatment plant.
She said that Muntons
have a Pollution Prevention and Control
permit which allows the company to discharge
treated effluent into the river. But on
26 July 2007 an employee noticed a problem
with the treatment plant which required
one of the tanks of effluent to be drained
so that maintenance could be carried out.
The effluent was to
be drained to a holding lagoon via a buffer
tank with a capacity of 60m3 per hour. But
when a valve at the base of the reactor
tank was opened to drain it more quickly
the flow into the buffer tank was exceeded
by 40m3 per hour, which lead to the overflow.
Mrs Tordoff told the
court that the employee left the site for
two hours while the tank was draining and
the estimated volume that could have been
discharged to the river was 80m3. She said:
‘The overflow went unnoticed by the company
and it could have been prevented had there
been better written procedures for the carrying
out of emergency maintenance.’
Since the incident Muntons
have installed an alarm and shut-off valve
on the buffer tank to prevent a similar
incident in the future.
Environment Agency officer
Frances Browne said: ‘This incident was
totally avoidable and yet the environmental
impact on the river biodiversity was both
significant and serious and a great number
of fish have died as a result. Although
the company has now put systems and procedures
in place to prevent such incidents happening
again, this demonstrates the necessity for
companies to have a strict maintenance policy.’
Muntons plc pleaded
guilty to:
On or about 26 July
you did cause poisonous, noxious or polluting
matter to enter controlled waters, namely
the river Gipping at Cedars Maltings, Stowmarket
in the county of Suffolk.
Contrary to section 85(1) and section 85(6)
Water Resources Act 1991
+ More
Environment Agency successfully
eradicates Top Mouth Gudgeon
Mike Dunning - 21-Apr-2008
- An alien fish that threatened to wipe
out the local fish population in two East
Devon lakes and the River Otter has been
successfully removed by the Environment
Agency.
The Top Mouth Gudgeon
was discovered in lakes at Bicton College
and Bicton Park Botanical Gardens near East
Budleigh in 2004. Measuring only 3 – 4 cms
in length, the tiny invader out-competes
native species and also carries a damaging
parasite that can interfere with the breeding
cycle of salmon and trout.
The Agency swung into
action in 2006 after thousands of the gudgeon
were washed into the Bicton Stream during
a thunderstorm. A gravel filter was installed
to prevent the invader from spreading, but
the gudgeon were swept past the filter after
the lake overflowed.
Agency fisheries officers
removed around 6,000 of the fish from the
stream following the thunderstorm ‘break-out.’
By acting swiftly, the Agency prevented
the Top Mouth Gudgeon from moving downstream
and colonising the Colaton Raleigh Stream
which in turn flows into the River Otter.
But the battle was far
from over. With an estimated 100,000 of
the alien fish still in the smaller lake
the local fish population was still under
threat and there was a risk that, once again,
the gudgeon would escape and spread into
nearby rivers and streams.
It was decided the only
solution was eradication. In March 2007
the Agency prepared for a final showdown
with the tiny invader. Fisheries officers
carried out a rescue operation and removed
native species including carp from the two
lakes. With the native fish safely re-located
to temporary holding ponds, a piscicide
(poison) was then used to eradicate the
Top Mouth Gudgeon.
Rotenone is an environmentally
safe piscicide that only targets fish and
quickly breaks down in the environment.
It doesn’t harm other aquatic life such
as insects, mammals or birds.
Last autumn Agency fisheries
officers electro-fished the lakes and Bicton
Stream and could find no sign of the troublesome
gudgeon. Today (April 21, 2008) officers
will carry out a second survey of the area
to confirm their earlier findings. This
should demonstrate that the Top Mouth Gudgeon
has finally met its match and is no longer
wreaking havoc in two of East Devon’s most
popular ornamental lakes.
‘The signs are
very encouraging. We couldn’t find any Top
Mouth Gudgeon when we carried out our first
survey in October 2007. Instead, they’ve
been replaced by a very healthy population
of carp in the lakes. We have plans with
Bicton College to introduce other species
into the lake soon. In the meantime, we
are doing a follow-up survey that hopefully
will show the eradication has been successful,’
said Dave Brogden for the Environment Agency.
