A sad day but I hope no permenant damage.......... It will be a long time before the stocks are back to a decent level........ article from the Rossendale Free Press.

Hundreds of fish poisoned to death
April 30, 2010

Hundreds of fish have been killed after a river became polluted.

A two-mile stretch of Swinnel Brook near the River Ogden, which runs from Haslingden to Helmshore, was contaminated last week.

After suffocating, the dead fish - believed to be mostly trout - have floated downstream or have been washed up on the banks..

Following an investigation the Environment Agency is likely to take enforcement action, and may prosecute the polluter.

Claire Palmer from the Environment Agency said: “The incident on Wednesday April 21 has resulted in a large fish kill. Officers attended the incident and traced the source of the pollution to faulty drainage at a container washing operation.

“We worked to stop the pollution quickly and gathered samples to understand the nature of the pollutant.

“The company have fully co-operated with our investigations.”

Further investigations have also been carried out into the impact on the wildlife.

In July last year thousands of bullhead and brown trout were killed following a chemical spillage along a stretch of the Whitewell Brook river, which runs through Whitewell Bottom and Waterfoot.

Mum-of-two Jo Bones, a freelance photographer, described the latest incident as horrendous.

“I am absolutely devastated and there’s no excuse for this,” she said. “It is not as though they are just a few sticklebacks. They are trout and are beautiful fish - it is horrific to see them dead.”

Jo's house on Holcombe Road is close to the banks of the River Ogden. She added:

“I saw fish dying after the pollution had happened. You could see the little trout coming to the surface. Me and my two young sons often feed these families of fish but there's no signs of fish-life here at the moment.”

Rossendale Borough Council, United Utilities and local land owners also took part in the investigation.

Claire added: “The water quality has returned to normal and we are considering options to help the recovery of the water environment.”

Please call the Environment Agency incident line if you have any information on 0800 80 70 60.

Ah Shxt, Poop and ****.

Not another one?

fae