Diesel river spill 'could affect native crayfish'
BBCA spill of diesel into a river could affect endangered native crayfish, a wildlife trust has warned.
Residents of Kendal, Cumbria, first spotted the oily substance floating atop the River Kent near Mintsfeet industrial estate on Friday.
David Harpley from the Cumbria Wildlife Trust said the river was "famous for white clawed crayfish" that were "likely to be affected by poor water chemistry".
The Environment Agency (EA) said the issue had been traced to a surface water drain and that it worked with United Utilities to deploy oil absorbent booms and bales to stem the flow of diesel.
DEBORAH THWAITEUnited Utilities said the incident was "not related to any of its activities".
The surface water outfall is designed to drain surface water from the Mintsfeet industrial estate and is located around 230ft (70m) upstream from the Dock Ray footbridge, the EA said.
The EA said it had returned to the site to investigate over the following three days but had "not observed an environmental impact beyond the oil sheen on the surface of the river".
A spokesman added he wanted to "stress the source of the pollution was still yet to be determined".
JONNY GIOSDeborah Thwaite was walking her dogs in a park near Beezon Fields at about 17:30 GMT on Friday when she saw the spill.
She said: "There was loads [of diesel]. I was there around 15 minutes and it was non-stop."
David Harpley, director of nature recovery at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "Any oil spill is likely to be damaging for a whole variety of species living on the river.
"These include otters, birds and other animals which rely on fur or feathers for waterproofing and keeping warm, without which they are in serious trouble.
"There will be a chemical impact on fish and invertebrate living in the water.
"The River Kent is famous for white clawed crayfish which are likely to be affected by poor water chemistry."
The River Kent is the last river system in the UK that has a proper population of white clawed crayfish, Mr Harpley continued.
"It's not a good thing to happen, but just how damaging it is depends of the size of the spill," he added.