We have had reports from the Environment Agency of a pollution spill on the Croydon arm of the Wandle. Red diesel was seen in the newly deculverted stretch of the river at Wandle Park this morning. It is thought that it came from upstream in Croydon.
EA officers are on site and are attempting to trace the source of the pollution with the help of Thames Water. The EA is also arranging the removal of the diesel.
It is thought that much of the diesel has been contained using booms but we’ve just had a call from their office to ask if we can ask any of our supporters to check the river for:
- any sightings of the diesel downstream
- any signs of distressed fish or other wildlife
Any urgent details should be fed through to the EA’s incident hotline 0800 80 70 60: please also post them as a comment below this blog post so we can track them too.
Clearly this is in the middle of the afternoon, but any information would be very greatly appreciated!
Many thanks.
As of 4.35pm today there is no sign of pollution through Beddington park at the upper reach from below the wildlife centre
Thanks Jez, that’s helpful – I’ve just fed it back to the EA who are currently checking upstream. It sounds as if additional booms have gone out which are collecting a small surface sheen in the Richmond Green area but most of the pollution seems to have been contained thanks to the rapid action of those working in Wandle Park. An article has just gone up at Croydon Guardian – http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/9793542.Pollution_flows_into_River_Wandle/?ref=rss
Update from the Environment Agency – they have been making progress with tracing the source of the pollution in Croydon and will carrying on following this up today. Thames Water have been on site overnight tankering away the diesel that has come down. Our thanks to all concerned for a speedy response minimising the damage to the river!
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I’ve been in to Riverside Animal Centre today (in Beddington Park) – and there are no reported wildlife problems related to this diesel spill.
They had been alerted to the problem yesterday.
Environment Agency staff have let us know that the oil has now stopped and that, thanks to Thames Water, most of it has now been removed. In addition the EA believe they’ve found the source and are continuing to collect evidence to determine those responsible and the reasons why the oil was released. A huge thanks to all those involved in the cleanup and all of you for feeding in information – the result was a speedy response which enabled the damage to be contained and minimised – thank you.