'Swamp of dead fish': Fury as Anglian Water tries to blame potential 'other sources' of pollution as hundreds of river fish killed

North East Cambridgeshire MP Steve Barclay has hit out at Anglian Water’s response to the death of over 800 fish at Kings Dyke, between Whittlesey and Stanground in Peterborough.

Residents described the area as a “swamp of dead fish” after the river became polluted on the weekend on September 22.

Anglian Water had confirmed that it had suffered a pump failure at it pumping station on the river but since insisted that “because of the amount of rain which fell in a short space of time, any spill from our pumping station would have been heavily diluted, and is definitely not raw sewage.”

Anglian Water added: “Our initial investigations backed this up with a significant reduction in ammonia levels (one of the factors that can result in a fish kill) within 100m of the overflow point, and dissolved oxygen levels were healthy.

Mr Barclay, who is the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has said that he has not found Anglian Water’s explanation convincing.

He said: “The Environment Agency has confirmed they are treating this as potentially a “Category 1” incident, which is where there is a serious, persistent or extensive impact on the environment. Both the Environment Agency and Anglian Water accept significant numbers of fish have been killed.

“Anglian Water accept that a pump failure occurred at their Stanground site. However, they have not disclosed for how long, and I will continue to press them for more details.

“On the mechanical failure, we need clarity from Anglian Water on when this occurred, for how long, and the amounts of sewage discharged due to this failure.

“As a result of changes the last Government made, storm overflows are required to be fully monitored so Anglian Water should publish this information quickly.

“In particular, we need to clarify whether the location of the lowest oxygen levels in the water is because the sewage drifted downstream of the Stanground site, which seems both likely and explains why the lowest levels of oxygen are not close to the Stanground site.

“Likewise in theory other sources may discharge into this water, but no evidence has been presented to me of another possible cause of pollution at this scale. The tests from the Environment Agency should help confirm the cause of the dead fish and the results should be published quickly.

“The Environment Agency should also publish any permit(s) that apply to Anglian Water regarding the operation of the Stanground site, and specifically any terms applying to mechanical failure.

"When I was Secretary of State for the Environment, we began a consultation to ban any water company from paying a bonus to their senior executives if responsible for a category 1 level pollution incident. That remains my view, and I would like to see this implemented by the new Government.

“Finally, the new Chief Executive of Anglian Water has not made any comment so far, which is surprising, and he should now set out a detailed explanation.”

Mr Barclays comments came after Anglian Water suggested that it had found several other potential sources of pollution which do not belong to Anglian Water.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “Along this stretch of river, between our pumping station and the fish kill, there are more than eight additional outfalls not owned by Anglian Water, that would have been discharging surface water and pollutants as a result of the rainfall. These outfalls typically take water from nearby roads, ditches, drains, land and industrial sites.

"With the Environment Agency, we have continued to monitor these other surface water outfalls between our pumping station and the site of the fish kill.

"As part of our observations we have observed evidence of an oil slick near to one outfall, and high levels of ammonia at a second outfall.

"We continue to monitor these outfalls to support the Environment Agency with its investigation and establish all potential sources of the fish kill.”

An investigation between the Environment Agency and Anglian Water is ongoing.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water added: “We, like everyone, are saddened that fish have died in Kings Dyke, Stanground.

“We will always respond to support the natural environment in an event like this, regardless of whether we believe our assets are the cause.

“We are taking it very seriously, which is why we are working throughout the weekend alongside the Environment Agency and other agencies to investigate what has happened.

"We’ve been very open that our storm overflow operated as permitted during such heavy rainfall, however, this does not necessarily mean our asset activity resulted in the impact on the watercourse.

"Since the initial event we’ve found several other potential sources of pollution which do not belong to Anglian Water.

“We remain active on site in case of further rain forecasts and have extra resources on standby.”