Trust works to prevent more pollution in canal

A half mile stretch of the canal in Walsall remains closed

Waterways managers are working to stop another pollution incident in stretch of a canal where thousands of litres of cyanide were leaked last month.

About 4,000 litres (879 gallons) of sodium cyanide and other chemicals spilled into the canal in Walsall on 12 August, closing a 12-mile stretch of the waterway.

Walsall Council said aeration of the canal to deal with the problem had since been successful.

"[But] the next step is, what’s the pollution level like in all the sediment that lies at the bottom of the canal," said Henriette Breukelaar, from the Canal and River Trust.

"Before we can allow anyone to use boats again, for example, we need to make sure that when they disturb the sediment, that doesn’t then cause a whole other pollution incident in it’s own right."

A half-mile section of towpath and canal remains closed while the sediment is being sampled.

The spillage, on 12 August, caused thousands of fish to die

An investigation into the chemical spillage, which came from Anochrome Ltd, is being carried out by the Environment Agency.

It caused thousands of fish to die, and Ms Breukelaar said the safety of the biodiversity in the water was also a concern.

"A lot of the smaller organisms in particular are really sensitive to the chemicals that might be in that water," she said.

"Fish life, and mammals, we’ve got otters, we’ve seen water voles…they depend on a really healthy canal ecosystem, and that ecosystem is massively disturbed."

Walsall Council said aeration of the canal had been successful

Walsall Council said the aquatic ecosystem and food chain "may have been devastated or lost" in the section of water, and could take years to recover.

Ms Breukelaar added that this was something that happens "too often".

"It was one of three pollution incidents we as a charity had to deal with in that same week alone," she continued.

"We very often find pollution in the water, not with cyanide, but with other chemicals, cooking oil, other types of oil, that we end up clearing up."