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January
26, 2006
Clean-up operation underway at River
Brue in
Highbridge after oil spill
A
big clean-up operation is under way on part of the River Brue
near Burnham-On-Sea after an estimated 100 gallons of oil spilled
into the river.
The Environment Agency is using 60ft (18.3m) booms to contain
the oil which appeared to have leaked from a premises in Bason
Bridge on Tuesday.
A
spokesman told Burnham-On-Sea.com that the oil had been successfully
contained and tests had shown the water was clear down river.
"We
believe it's been contained without any significant impact,"
he said.
 The
alarm was raised by a member of the public at 11.30am on Tuesday
after he spotted the oil on the surface of the water between Bason
Bridge and Highbridge – a distance of three kilometres.
Environment
Agency staff managed to isolate the spillage and will continue
to monitor the river to assess the impact of the spill. The river
level had to be raised to float both booms and aid controlling
the pollution at Bason Bridge. It is possible to continue these
water levels without any flood risk.
As
soon as there is any risk of possible flooding due to increased
rainfall, Environment Officers will respond promptly to restore
winter levels by opening the sluice gates.
Early
reports indicate that an estimated 100 gallons of waste oil escaped
from a storage tank and although a great deal remained contained
within the site, some leaked into nearby drains and out to the
river.
"Once
notified, we were able to respond rapidly to this incident and
have deployed two large booms across the river. Waste oil is still
being discharged from drains today and we are taking steps to
contain it at Bason Bridge," said Brian Payne for the Environment
Agency.
"At
this stage we do not believe it has had a significant impact on
the river and wildlife. This type of surface pollution often looks
worse than it is."
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