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Bristol Avon - Slick/Spill?

Mark de Lancey

Mark de Lancey

Senior Member
Hi All

Does anybody who lives in (or near) Chippenham have any idea what that dreadful slick is in the river? It's like a thick brown gloopy syrup! There are alot of people with beards down there holding clipboards apparantly! Doesn't look good! :(
 
Perhaps the otters have eaten too many barbel full of high oil pellets, and now got the runs :D

Seriously though, I hope it turns out to be nothing too serious, and that whoever is responsible is caught and dealt with properly, rather than the derisory slap on the wrist they usually get :rolleyes:

Cheers, Dave.
 
I live in Chippenham, will see what I can find out. Doesn't sound good though ! River was clear at Kellaways this morning..........
 
Starting to look serious! They have a giant red inflatable oil retainer spread across the width of the river now.
 
Is this in the town centre/park area ? My guess is a spill getting into the river from the Westinghouse Drain/Brook............We had a cyanide spill a few years ago !
 
Yes, it's upstream of the town bridge (approx 100 yards) - and is now through to the top of Monkton Park
 
Oh strewth! The last thing the river needs...
 
Looks awful today with huge white/blue lumps of foam and a black slick. I hope they are getting it sorted because this could be disatrous if it spreads any futher
 
I havent seen or heard it mentioned on the news, so I'm hoping that's a sign its not too serious rather than a potentially toxic spill into a river not being deemed 'newsworthy'.

Adam
 
Adam Rawson said:
I havent seen or heard it mentioned on the news, so I'm hoping that's a sign its not too serious rather than a potentially toxic spill into a river not being deemed 'newsworthy'.

Adam
Click to expand...

I suppose if it was a toxic spill it would be on the local news, such incidents seem to be very news worthy, fingers crossed then.
 
Neil Smart said:
I suppose if it was a toxic spill it would be on the local news, such incidents seem to be very news worthy, fingers crossed then.
Click to expand...

We had a spill on the Colne a few years ago, while I was fishing. The stretch I was on had a weir at the top, and ran parallel to a road. The first I knew of it was just as dusk was drawing in, when what looked like dozens of icebergs the size of a car were drifting down the river towards me :eek:

I followed them up, and on reaching the weir I found that the whole structure had disappeared under an off-white mountain, and parts of this were being blown by the wind across the road, causing a visibility hazard there. Obviously it was foam of some sort, being stirred up by the motion of the weir...it covered the weir the whole width of the river to a depth of several feet, with the iceberg like lumps breaking off at the tail, to drift away.

I 'phoned up the EA, who didn't bother coming down, but relentless pursuit on my part resulted in the information that 'An amount of industrial detergent had been released into the surface water drainage system upstream of my position, but they had been unable to identify the source'. I could find no further details later, and as I was unable to get back to the river for some time, I never did find out if any fish deaths or whatever resulted from this... the EA were keeping schtum, and nothing appeared in the local press.

Undoubtedly, damage was done, but I guess it was consigned to the 'Hey ho, never mind' bin :rolleyes:

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
We had a spill on the Colne a few years ago, while I was fishing. The stretch I was on had a weir at the top, and ran parallel to a road. The first I knew of it was just as dusk was drawing in, when what looked like dozens of icebergs the size of a car were drifting down the river towards me :eek:

I followed them up, and on reaching the weir I found that the whole structure had disappeared under an off-white mountain, and parts of this were being blown by the wind across the road, causing a visibility hazard there. Obviously it was foam of some sort, being stirred up by the motion of the weir...it covered the weir the whole width of the river to a depth of several feet, with the iceberg like lumps breaking off at the tail, to drift away.

I 'phoned up the EA, who didn't bother coming down, but relentless pursuit on my part resulted in the information that 'An amount of industrial detergent had been released into the surface water drainage system upstream of my position, but they had been unable to identify the source'. I could find no further details later, and as I was unable to get back to the river for some time, I never did find out if any fish deaths or whatever resulted from this... the EA were keeping schtum, and nothing appeared in the local press.

Undoubtedly, damage was done, but I guess it was consigned to the 'Hey ho, never mind' bin :rolleyes:

Cheers, Dave.
Click to expand...

dave, where was that?
 
I have just returned from Chippenham town centre after visiting the tackle shop. This occurred on Tuesday night and was immediately reported to the EA. There are presently booms strung across the river just upstream from Town bridge and some EA? workers near the wooden footbridge outside the Council Offices. Lots of spill kits floating in the river and a raft of leaves behind these.

Kris
 
My fingers are crossed for you Avon lads....I hope that the damage has been limited...keep us all posted please.
 
So has anyone asked the EA workers directly, as to what the spillage is, or walked upstream to see how far this pollution goes?
 
Chris,

I believe that the pollution comes from the Westinghouse Drain, but not too sure at present. I didn't see any dead fish today. There is an Upper Thames League match there on Sunday, so the results in that will be telling of the effects of this.
 
There was a diesel spill on the Loddon a couple of years ago. Looked awful and made fishing just about impossible. The reality was that the very thin film of pollutant had very little impact on life in the river and those anglers who could put up with the smell were still catching. Took a couple of months to clear completely.

Steve
 
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