King's Lynn waterway Middleton Stop Drain showing signs of pollution again
A resident has said he is ‘so disgusted’ at signs that a waterway is being polluted again.
Barry Tomlin has previously brought the Middleton Stop Drain, near The Chase in Lynn, to the attention of the Environment Agency (EA) due to discolouration of water and dead fish.
In response to a group of residents’ complaints the EA responded by closely monitoring the area.
On Christmas Day Mr Tomlin took photos showing what he believed to be waste that had been pumped into the waterway, making the water brown.
He said: “There had been at least ten days of pollution and I am so disgusted.
“The Environment Agency and Internal Drainage Board really can’t ignore it.
“I will be informing the council as this looks like a local disposal of waste, perhaps an organisation clearing out their sewage tanks. But the Environment Agency said they had been monitoring the situation.
“I view the discharge of waste on Christmas Day as a cynical, blatant event in the light of the EA’s said commitment to taking this recurring pollution ‘very seriously’.”
Back in June the EA started monitoring the area 24/7 and a spokesperson said at the time: “We believe we have correctly identified one of the sources responsible for sediment entering the watercourse and are working with them to ensure changes are implemented and are effective.”
In July Mr Tomlin had written to the Lynn News stating a ‘much improved water quality to the Middleton Stop Drain’ but these recent photographs were taken a few metres from the access bridge to the Wardle’s Chase allotments.
He said: “In a previous letter they had given advice to a certain organisation’s future disposal of effluent and that they would be monitoring discharges to the Middleton Stop Drain.
“Since Christmas Day there have been at least 11 days of gross pollution. Where the Middleton Stop Drain joins the Pierpoint Drain the photos clearly show the pollution which flows on downstream into the River Nar and on into the River Great Ouse. Pollution on an industrial scale.”
The Environment Agency says it is continuing investigations into the “intermittent
discolouration” of the drain.”
