Environment Agency area director Marc Lidderth makes a statement regarding the toxic spill at the Walsall canal.

Environment Agency area director Marc Lidderth makes a statement regarding the toxic spill at the canal off Reservoir Place, Walsall.

Transcript

00:00So, the Environment Agency are carrying out a thorough investigation, gathering all evidence

00:05to understand the cause of this serious pollution incident. We're working with our partners

00:09getting that evidence and until we identify the actual source, there's nothing further

00:14I can give because it is a live investigation. Now, with regards to the toxicology report,

00:19the lab results from the Environment Agency from our sampling and testing programme came

00:24in late last night. What that has meant is that we have ended up with a good news story

00:29in the fact that the chemicals are not as gone as far within this canal network than

00:34we initially feared. That has meant that the stretch of the canal that has been closed

00:39off to the public, the vast majority of that cordon has now been removed, therefore making

00:43the canal reopened for the public use. However, there is still chemicals within one kilometre

00:49stretch of this canal, just behind me here, and we are continuing to take samples to understand

00:55the concentration levels of those chemicals. So, with regards to the canal network that

01:01has reopened, the public health from Walsall Council and UKHSA have deemed that safe. It's

01:06below the public health guidelines, so any events, festivals that are taking place on

01:10those stretches that have reopened will be safe for the public to use. So, we are doing

01:16that investigation work on the operator's site, so Amacrone Limited, the company that

01:21have omitted the cause of this serious pollution incident. We are looking at everything of

01:25what has happened around that cause. We will be working with them to make sure that something

01:30like this doesn't happen again from their site. At this present time, I cannot confirm

01:35that time frame. We need to continue to do our sampling that the Environment Agency is

01:39leading on and carrying out. That gives us an indication and understanding of the concentration

01:43levels of the chemicals and what the chemical make-up is within the canal, until we have

01:48absolute certainty that it's below those public health guidelines. That means that

01:52this restriction in place here will still remain. What it will also mean from the Environment

01:56Agency is that we will continue to make sure that there are no further impacts on the environment,

02:01but what we will need to do is ensure that the public health is at the forefront of this

02:05whilst we carry out our investigations. So, until we've completed our investigation,

02:12I can't talk anything more about the cause of the actual pollution incident. We do know

02:15where it's come from. The company, Anacron Ltd, have admitted that they have caused this.

02:21The pollution is completely unacceptable and once we gather all that evidence, we will

02:25then look at what robust enforcement action we can take under all the regulatory powers

02:29that the Environment Agency has. At the moment, it's too early to say the time frame of the

02:34effects. It all comes down to the concentration levels and also as the chemicals stay within

02:39the water, the degradation of those chemicals themselves. We'll continue doing our sampling

02:45to understand that more and over the coming days, we'll be able to give more of an understanding

02:49around how long that will impact the environment, but our concern now is making sure that where

02:53the chemicals are within this canal stretch, they go no further, they remain there and

02:58there's no more degradation to the environment elsewhere.