Investigation into River Sheppey pollution that killed 8,000 fish still ongoing after 18 months

Investigation into River Sheppey pollution that killed 8,000 fish still ongoing after 18 months

Source: somersetlive

1/27/2021

An investigation into pollution that may have killed 8,000 fish in the River Sheppey is still ongoing more than 18 months after it occurred, the Environment Agency has confirmed.

A 15km stretch of the river, which flows near Meare, Shepton Mallet and Wells in central Somerset, was initially investigated by the Agency in April 2019 after several dead fish were reported after being spotted by members of the public.

The agency said at the time in a post on Facebook: "We are dealing with pollution affecting 15km of the River Sheppey.

"We are attempting to protect the lower end of the River Sheppey/River Brue.

"(The) Number of fish killed won’t be known until water clears."

Further eyewitnesses claim to have seen "hundreds" of dead fish, with it being confirmed early in 2020 that as many as 8,000 were believed to have been killed by the pollution.

A 12-year-old boy was mentioned for alerting people to the dead fish, with a Facebook post from officials saying: "We are very grateful to a 12-year-old boy who removed these fish from a small stretch of the river, put them in his bucket, then staged this photograph for us."

The initial reports from the Environment Agency in the aftermath of the reports in 2019 also indicated that the pollution had been "tracked to a probable source" but no cause has yet been identified.

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