Officers from the Environment Agency are investigating a spillage of red diesel which has polluted a river in Catford, in Lewisham, London.
The Environment Agency received calls from several members of the public yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, 9 June) after the River Pool began to smell strongly of petroleum and showed signs of and oil based pollution on the river surface, a rainbow effect.
Officers attended the site yesterday afternoon and found a substance spilling into the river via a surface water outfall. The slick is stretching for more than a mile down into the Ravensbourne River. Officers traced the source of the spillage and sealed it off to stop more diesel entering the drains. They used booms around the surface water outfall in the River Pool to stop any more diesel from spreading downstream. Currently no dead fish have been recorded, but the spillage is believed to have affected some birds along the river.
Environment management team leader James Liney said: “We were called to the area late yesterday afternoon after receiving several calls about the colour and odour of the river from member of the public. Officers traced the source of the diesel and we have deployed booms to stop the worst of the pollution spreading.
“We are back on site today to make sure that no more pollution enters the river and to conduct an investigation into the cause of the incident. Then we will start the clean up process in partnership with other organizations. Hopefully the recent rain we’ve had will help to wash the diesel through the system with minimal impact on local wildlife, but we will continue to monitor this and our biodiversity team will be examining the area to see whether it has damaged local wildlife.
“We are very grateful to everyone who got in touch with us to alert us to this issue – members of the public are our eyes and ears on the ground, and it is vital that anyone who sees this sort of thing contacts us on out hotline so that we can assess the environmental impact and take appropriate measures to reduce it if possible.”
Members of the public can report pollution incidents by calling the Environment Agency’s emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
