The Environment Agency have launched a full investigation this week after a seven mile stretch of the River Crane in West London became polluted with raw sewage, killing around 3,000 fish. The incident happened on the afternoon of Sunday 30 November, with the sewage spilling into the river until early the next day.
The problem arose after a six-tonne valve became jammed during maintenance work in a major sewer that serves Heathrow Airport; sewage then became backed-up. The valve was eventually forced open by Thames Water using hydraulic equipment on Monday.
Although Thames Water worked to take large amounts of the backed-up sewage away by tanker, it became clear that they could not pump it all. They became faced with the "unpalatable" decision as to whether they should let the sewage back up into Heathrow airport, or spill it into the River Crane, a tributary to the River Thames. The decision was made to spill it into the river.
The Agency has been working to minimise further environmental damage by monitoring oxygen levels in the water and are also trying to remove dead fish from the water.
The Agency's Area Manager, Julia Simpson, said, "This is the most serious incident we have had on a tributary of the River Thames for several years. We worked around the clock to try and minimise the environmental damage from this incident, but today it is clear that stretch of the tributaries have been devastated. We have launched a full investigation into this devastating pollution which has caused the death of approximately 3,000 fish on seven miles of river."
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