Walsall: Around 90 kg of dead fish recovered from canal after chemical accident | News from Great Britain
About 90 kg of dead fish were removed from a canal in the West Midlands following a chemical spill.
Walsall Council said a “significant number” of fish had been killed in the canal after elevated levels of chemicals such as sodium cyanide and zinc cyanide were detected in a section of the waterway.
Contact with sodium cyanide can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, confusion, changes in heart rate and loss of consciousness and can be fatal in sufficiently high concentrations.
Last week, Anochrome Ltd, a provider of specialist surface coatings and other services, said it was responsible for the oil spill following an incident at its Walsall site in the early hours of August 12.
The dead fish were disposed of
A major disaster has been declared Police, fire service, Canal and Rivers Trust and Severn Trent Water were involved in an attempt to contain the oil spill. However, 300 m of water was affected, the local council said in an update on Monday.
“Numerous fish have been killed, but the impact on the overall ecology is not yet known,” the council said.
About 1 km of the canal remains closed due to the high concentrations of sodium cyanide and zinc cyanide detected there.
“Our priority remains the safety of our residents and canal users. Local, regional and national authorities are working together to minimize the potential health risk following the oil spill.”
The Canal and River Trust, which has launched a fundraiser to protect wildlife in the area, said otters and water rats living in or near the canal could also be at risk.
Thorough testing has been carried out on a 12-mile stretch of the canal, but one section – from James Bridge on Bentley Mill Way in Darlaston to Rollingmill Street in Walsall in the east – will remain closed until further notice, the council said.
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Temporary dams have been erected at either end of what the council has dubbed the “red exclusion zone” and the public is reminded not to take or eat fish from the water.
The council said normal operations could resume outside the one-kilometre exclusion zone if laboratory tests showed water quality met public health guidelines.
The dead fish have been disposed of and Anochrome Ltd. and the Environment Agency are conducting an urgent investigation to find out how the oil spill occurred, the council said.
