More than a year since I wrote this blog after a catastrophic diesel spill into the Lower Test, pollution is still spilling into our nature reserve. Video footage on social media shows the river hidden under an unmistakable blanket of oil. Whether this is a new fuel spill or the impact of ongoing pollution we don’t yet know.
The lower reaches of the River Test and surrounding wetlands are some of the most important in the world for wildlife, and yet they are suffering from ongoing and frequent pollution incidents. At this time of year, critically important numbers of salmon and sea trout will be gathering before heading upriver to spawn. Internationally important numbers of wildfowl and waders, such as curlew and dark-bellied Brent geese, will soon be arriving on the floodplain to spend the winter. If you’re lucky enough, you might even see a harbour seal in the estuary. As precious as this habitat is, it seems that nowhere is safe from the pollution that is allowed to wash into our waterways.
We have repeatedly asked for updates from Southern Water and the Environment Agency for information on the outcome of the investigation into last year’s diesel fuel spill, and what has been done to clean up and remove the risk of future pollution events.
Frustratingly, we have received little information. I assume that at least some of the information is hidden behind the confidentiality clauses of the ongoing investigation. It is simply not good enough that we have had no reassurance that this issue is being taken seriously and now, a year down the line, we are having to raise the alarm again.
My team were on site yesterday where several contractors had been deployed by Southern Water to put in place short-term emergency measures to try and control the spread of diesel. Whilst we obviously need this clean-up effort now, we are exasperated by the fact that once again we are witnessing action after the damage has been done.
Our biggest challenge is to pinpoint who is accountable. The planning system should never have permitted the industrial development at this site. Subsequent regulation has failed, and drainage infrastructure is woefully inadequate. We question if private operators in the industrial estate are meeting their responsibilities or, indeed, if anyone is checking. However, while everyone points fingers at each other, there is no accountability, there is no action and nature continues to bear the cost.
The pollution of this wonderful nature reserve is heart breaking in itself but it is also symptomatic of the huge challenge facing many of our rivers today. With our fragmented and ineffective system for managing and looking after our water environment and the history of underinvestment, this is a big problem to solve. The polluter needs to pay, and compensation is needed to put right the damage to wildlife. But, more importantly, we need a proper, strategic, long- term solution to make sure this can’t happen again. And again.
Radical change is needed. Our rivers are flatlining — time to bring them back to life.