We have a long, and ever growing dialogue with the Environment Agency regarding the large number of pollution incidents which take place on the River Irwell system…
In addition to this dialogue with the EA about incidents… we are also in regular contact about the long standing poor (but improving) chemical content of the water…… and the frequency and volume of legal discharges of raw untreated sewage from our local utility company
Here is an update on some of the recent pollution events.
Crown Oil, 10,000+ litres of heating oil allowed to escape into River Roch – – a 2012 Category 2 (significant) incident resulted in the company receiving a formal caution. A 2014 incident was attended but not substantiated
Briggs Demolition – long term effects of poor enforcement? (Diffuse pollution from illegal landfill site, already prosecuted by the EA and let off by courts with reduced fine to enable environmental clean up which has never taken place. Ongoing pollution from this site results in massively depleted kick sample results downstream of this point.) Our enforcement was completed several years ago. This is now a contaminated land site for which queries should be addressed to the local authority – a further update on this site is that UU are considering remediation works to enable access to their sewer network – this has to be good news
Bradshaw Brook 2013 UU contractor HCL acid – hundreds of fish deaths – Prosecution complete nearly £1m in fines https://www.gov.uk/government/news/united-utilities-and-contractors-fined-almost-1m-for-polluting-brook-with-corrosive-bleach
Warth Fold Hydro – built without a fish pass! – regularly breaches abstraction consents by running all the river flow through its turbine and sometimes taking more flow than the river has, thus depleting pool above, then drying out river below while the pool above the weir refills. Also EA have allowed the hydro operator to but batons on top of the weir to increase the head of the retained pool of water above the weir, and direct more flow through the turbine!!! How can any of this be legal? – No response from the EA – update 2017 The EA cannot enforce a fish pass be constructed on these dreadful schemes (example Bury Community Hydro)
Ringley Waste Water Treatment Works split main 1 2013–massive amount of eaw sewage entered the watercourse during low flow dry period….. category 2 (significant) incident United Utilities accepted a formal caution
Ringley Waste Water Treatment Works / Rhodes Farm split sludge pipe 2 2013 same area – different pipe – (a second low pressure pipe rupture under the River Irwell – Category 3 (minor) incident warning letter
Bury Waste Water Treatment Works – no screening on inlet (EA no comment – UU’s comment was that they don’t need one because the EA have never asked them to put one in) Assessment of the impact of this is ongoing in order to establish what improvements if any are required under forthcoming AMP schemes – SFAS will be asking for this practice to be reviewed in the next round of United Utilties Asset Management Planing 6
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