A MAJOR pollution incident killed thousands of fish along a 5.5 mile stretch of river.
The River Clywedog near Wrexham in north Wales was severely affected by the pollution.
Tens of thousands of fish were quickly killed. The fish were mainly brown trout but also chub, eels, perch, bullhead, bullhead, stickleback lamprey, stone loach, salmon parr and minnow.
Officers from Natural Resources Wales investigated the incident in a bid to find the source.
Anthony Randles, from the environment body, said: “The pollutant has had a significant effect on fish and river life.
“Our officers have been on site to collect water samples for analysis and to assess the impact on the environment and wildlife.
“We will continue to investigate how this pollution happened and will take appropriate enforcement action if necessary.
“NRW has also identified the probable source of the pollution, but this cannot currently be confirmed for legal reasons.
“Protecting Wales’ rivers and their wildlife is one of our most important jobs, and we deal with pollution incidents as a matter of emergency,” Anthony added.
Pollution ‘dire and getting worse’
This pollution is the latest in a long line of serious incidents, resulting in huge concern about the state of the rivers in Wales.
In particular, both coarse and game fishing is being affected by agricultural pollution… and the Angling Trust have spoken up strongly about this part of the problem.
Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust, said: “The situation with agricultural pollution in Wales is dire and getting worse.
“We have repeatedly urged the Welsh Government to take action to stop the rising tide of pollution from slurry and soil and have secured a lot of media coverage on this issue over the past two years.
“There are some signs that the message might be getting through, as Natural Resources Wales has recently appointed eight new staff to focus on agricultural pollution.
“However, a more fundamental change in the way that land is managed is required, which is what we proposed in our Saving the Earth report with WWF and The Rivers Trust earlier this year,” Mark added.
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