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Orange water harbour remains 'real frustration'

BBC A culvert/drain showing stained orangey-brown water pouring into Queens Dock. There is a tide mark from contaminated water can be seen on the harbour's internal wall.BBC
Water contaminated with iron ochre has been pouring into the harbour since November 2022

Two years since a harbour's water turned orange, frustration continues over the lack of a solution.

Tests have identified iron ochre getting into Whitehaven's Queens Dock in Cumbria through a culvert, and although there have been a number of multi-agency meetings to find a solution, nothing has been put in place.

Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said it was "mind-bogglingly frustrating" a taskforce was still discussing the issue and the situation was damaging the town's reputation.

Deanne Shallcross, from Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, said the "horrendous" situation was "100% a visitor deterrent".

"We know it's reputational damage, we've got visitors coming to the town who know us as the town with orange water or brown murky water."

She added it was "really disappointing and a real frustration" a solution had not been found.

Boats moored up in Whitehaven Marina; the water around them is brown.
Depending on the light, the water in the harbour is visibly brown on a dull day or looks orange when the weather is brighter

The culvert releases water collected from Bransty Beck and a drainage system in the Bransty railway tunnel, which has started to flood in recent years.

For decades, water has drained from the railway tunnel, which takes trains underground between Corkickle and Whitehaven, into the harbour without an issue.

However, MacAlister said the problem "seems to be the gravel under the railway track".

He said he believed in the past the gravel had acted as "a natural filter" to catch any iron ochre, but was now "saturated".

The MP has called on Network Rail to put temporary measures in place to carry out further inspections and remedial works to start to remove and replace the gravel.

Network Rail Brown coloured floodwater on the tracks of the Bransty tunnel.Network Rail
The railway tunnel sometimes floods and, to keep trains running, is connected to Whitehaven by a culvert

Network Rail started investigations last year to see if water from old mine workings was entering Bransty Tunnel and then flowing to the harbour culvert.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said the company was working with the Environment Agency and other taskforce partners "to focus on monitoring the water quality and flow rates" to try to understand potential sources.

It added it would "ensure that we keep the railway running through Bransty Tunnel and improve the drainage, which is currently blocked with iron ochre".

Steven Rogers, who has short white hair and wears glasses, in Whitehaven with boat masts in the distance behind him.
Steven Rogers says the hull of his boat has been stained by the iron ochre in the water, which cost hundreds of pounds to clean

Harbour user Steven Rogers said it was no longer pleasant to spend time on his boat in the marina because of the colour of the water, which had already cost him hundreds of pounds in cleaning costs.

Mr Rogers said: "I had to have my boat cleaned in the summer before a trip to France and that's expensive, to have it lifted out of the water and washed cost me £500 to £600."

He was concerned the taskforce "know what needs to be done" but the "stumbling block was funding".

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