ACTION STATIONS

We received word that there was a problem with the flow of a small river which runs through a local park of which my son is Chairman of the parks friends. Early this morning we headed for the park and what we found when we arrived was quite frightening.

The water was a strange colour and smelled very strong,we are quite used to sewage spills from Mogden Lane sewerage plant ,this was different. The water was frothy and there were dead fish floating on the surface of the water,the scary part was the fact that there were people wading about in the water attempting to rescue the tiny fish fry.

These people had no protective clothing and we urged them to go home at once and wash thoroughly ,they refused and carried on. Concerned we hurried home and my son rang the river authority and discovered that not only were we correct about the chemical spill but that further upstream the river was black. We were told that people we being affected by the toxic nature of the spill and were experiencing difficulty in breathing among other problems.

My son arranged a print out and ran back to the park ,once again he urged the people to leave,explaining that the pollution could soon be much worse...this time they listened.

Next he arranged for signage to be put up and as there is a children's play area by the affected river he urged the authorities to close the park until the nature of the problem was better understood,this they agreed to do.

All along the river bank dead and dying fish could be seen ,these were being snapped up by gulls and as we followed the river we saw that the run off in to the Thames was also affected.

Only two years ago this pretty river was killed by a major incident at Heathrow air port,since when tens thousands of pounds and many man hours have been spent to clean the river and restock it with fish. This year the kingfishers and moor hens returned, these are now doomed as is any living thing that contacts this chemical killer.

There is great grief in the village and even greater anger that once again a great corporation has felt fit to discharge dangerous waste into this lovely little river.

Until the size of the fine for this action in made truly punitive rather than nominal,and until severe prison sentences are dished out to those who make such appalling decisions this type of thing will continue to occur.

It is all to easy to release effluent or toxic chemicals in to rivers ,it is the cheaper option as the fines are small in comparison to lost income and this must be addressed.

Damage on this scale (several rivers including the Thames have been polluted) affects us all and it is up to all of us to make our feelings about such irresponsible actions known.

Nothing can be done to save the fish stocks and the birds we have lost today but if enough people make enough noise we might hope to influence legislation in order to prevent other irresponsible companies from doing the same.