Anti-pollution teams are trying to clean up a 5 mile oil slick which leaked from a disused sewage works and polluted a large stretch of the Menai Strait, which separates Anglesey from the mainland of North West Wales. Investigations are continuing to find out who was responsible for the spill which was spotted on Sunday 25 June by sailors. The immediate source has been identified as a leaking outfall pipe which has now been sealed. It is believed the oil was made up of a variety of industrial oils including diesel, generator fluid and heating oil, however most of it has now been dispersed and the worst affected areas are being cleaned up. The Menai Strait is considered an environmentally sensitive area for wildlife, and the Countryside Council for Wales have said that the damage still needs to be evaluated, but the amount of oil released was not as much as initially suspected.
In related news, a council and 2 companies have been fined after admitting their part in a toxic spill. A leak of the pesticide tributyltin killed tens of thousands of fish in the River Blackwater between Coggeshall and Kelvedon in Essex in 2002. The Environment Agency, who pleaded guilty to polluting a river in Somerset last month, brought the prosecution against Braintree District Council, Woodland International Transport and Coggeshall and Rentokil Initial. They were fined a total of £234,000.
