Reports have come into the Thames Anglers Conservancy of a major Tidal Thames Pollution incident on Tuesday.
Heavy rain over the last 24 hours have caused Thames Water to release raw sewage into the river from the Combined Sewage Overflows . Bubbler boats and hydrogen peroxide are being used to increase the oxygen levels.
TAC members have reported seeing may dead Roach, Dace, Bream, schooly Bass and big Flounder. At Blackfriars Bridge, condoms and other toilet waste has been seen on the outgoing tide.
– from Thames Anglers Conservancy press release – 6 June 2011
Comments
This incident featured on ITV London news last night; www.itv.com/london/thames-sewage-kills-fish47370
A TAC member made a video of the incident as it happened; WARNING: This is not pleasant: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmJwgL15NG8
Ed on 2011-06-09 11:45:25 +0000The pressures we place on the River Thames and its habitats are immense, and despite the likes of anglers and boaters (plus other recreational users), and the risks we face, the aquatic life continues to suffer through pollution, proposed hydropower projects, eroding habitat, flow regimes, migration, abstraction of water, poaching, illegal netting, predation, disease, endocrine-disrupting compounds etc. etc. etc.
This cannot continue, and rather cynically I believe that Thames Water will use this to further their position concerning the objections (by some members of the community), that are voicing opposition to the Thames Tunnel being built.
Incidentally, as a concerned group representing anglers on the Thames, the Thames Anglers' Conservancy believe that the tunnel should be built sooner rather than later, but, it won't be the privately owned company that will pay for the project, it will see an additional annual increase to their consumers bills on an annual basis to the tune of £60, at least.
This for a company that is owned by an investment banking group - Macquarie Group - based in Australasia, that boasts of a £140bn portfolio... that earned £435mn out of Thames Water alone in 2009.
Utterly disgusting and immoral, but not so surprisingly, the previous Conservative Govt. made this practice legal through "temporary" discharge consents in 1989 when they sold off the water utilities to private ownership.
This happens in varying amounts of discharge nearly once a week on the Thames alone, averaging 39 million tonnes (or 39 million litres) per annum...
And here's another notification by Thames Water today;
Within the next hour and a half, Hammersmith Sewage Pumping Station will be discharging heavily diluted storm water into the River Thames.
We regret the necessity to discharge partly treated effluent in this way.
Until this essential work is done, London's sewer network - which is Victorian - and other facilities will remain overstretched. This means that after heavy rain there is simply nowhere else for excess storm sewage to go, which is why these discharges, though regrettable, are legal and consented.
Regards Thames Water
And so it continues...
Richard Crimp on 2011-06-10 13:45:19 +0000The pressures we place on the River Thames and its habitats are immense, and despite the likes of anglers and boaters (plus other recreational users), and the risks we face, the aquatic life continues to suffer through pollution, proposed hydropower projects, eroding habitat, flow regimes, migration, abstraction of water, poaching, illegal netting, predation, disease, endocrine-disrupting compounds etc. etc. etc.
This cannot continue, and rather cynically I believe that Thames Water will use this to further their position concerning the objections (by some members of the community), that are voicing opposition to the Thames Tunnel being built.
Incidentally, as a concerned group representing anglers on the Thames, the Thames Anglers' Conservancy believe that the tunnel should be built sooner rather than later, but, it won't be the privately owned company that will pay for the project, it will see an additional annual increase to their consumers bills on an annual basis to the tune of £60, at least.
This for a company that is owned by an investment banking group - Macquarie Group - based in Australasia, that boasts of a £140bn portfolio... that earned £435mn out of Thames Water alone in 2009.
Utterly disgusting and immoral, but not so surprisingly, the previous Conservative Govt. made this practice legal through "temporary" discharge consents in 1989 when they sold off the water utilities to private ownership.
This happens in varying amounts of discharge nearly once a week on the Thames alone, averaging 39 million tonnes (or 39 million litres) per annum...
And here's another notification by Thames Water today;
Within the next hour and a half, Hammersmith Sewage Pumping Station will be discharging heavily diluted storm water into the River Thames.
We regret the necessity to discharge partly treated effluent in this way.
Until this essential work is done, London's sewer network - which is Victorian - and other facilities will remain overstretched. This means that after heavy rain there is simply nowhere else for excess storm sewage to go, which is why these discharges, though regrettable, are legal and consented.
Regards Thames Water
And so it continues...
Richard Crimp on 2011-06-10 14:01:02 +0000