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BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Yorkshire Water must pay £900k after polluting Ingbirchworth dike
Yorkshire Water has been ordered to pay more than £900,000 after polluting a watercourse with millions of litres of chlorinated water, causing the death of hundreds of Magistrates' Court heard how the firm's Ingbirchworth Water Treatment Works, near Barnsley, discharged intermittently into the freshwater watercourse linking Ingbirchworth and Scout Dike reservoirs for almost a Judge Tim Spruce said Yorkshire Water had shown a high degree of negligence, resulting in "a prolonged and catastrophic loss of aquatic life".A spokesperson for the water company said: "We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and we apologise for the harm that was caused." It comes after the company pleaded guilty in February to one charge of polluting Ingbirchworth Dike, between 1 November and 29 November to the Environment Agency, approximately one million litres of chlorinated water was discharged per day, leading to more than 430 fish being found dead in a single Tootill, water industry regulation manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said: "This pollution was not caused by an unforeseen event or extreme weather."The systems were simply not robust enough, and this wouldn't have happened if proper checks had taken place.""We're pleased Yorkshire Water has now been dealt with by the courts following our investigation." Ingbirchworth Water Treatment Works provides 90,000 people in Barnsley and South Yorkshire with drinking water every day and is fed by Ingbirchworth and Royd Moor from the reservoirs passes through the works for treatment. It includes an underground 'clean water wash tank', containing at 87% capacity an inlet valve automatically opens allowing the tank to refill and when it reaches 91% capacity it should treatment site has an environmental permit which allows the discharge of chlorinated water via an overflow pipe into Ingbirchworth Dike, but only in emergency situations should the tank reach 96% both before and during this incident, a capacity alarm was set at 97% meaning the overflow pipe would be discharging before any alarm was 1 November 2017 an alarm was received in the Yorkshire Water control room which indicated the inlet valve to the tank had failed. The valve was then manually opened to allow the tank to fill and maintain the water supply but maintenance operatives were unaware that the capacity alarm was set above the overflow pipe led to intermittent but regular discharges for 27 days. On 26 November, Barnsley Trout Club reported dead fish at Scout Dike Reservoir. Officers attended and counted 434 dead fish in a 1.5km stretch of water between the treatment works and the Environment Agency alerted Yorkshire Water about the incident and the inlet valve of the 'clean water wash tank' was returned to automatic Spruce agreed with the Environment Agency's assertion that the fish death total is likely to have been substantially higher. 'Fit for the future' The judge said the company's other convictions, including several since this incident, suggested that despite higher fines available to courts, the incentive to improve regulatory compliance has had "a lukewarm reception".The company was fined £865,000 - a figure substantially reduced by the judge due to Yorkshire Water's guilty plea - and ordered to pay costs of £34,979.79 and a victim surcharge of £ firm said, since the incident, the firm had reviewed processes and procedures "to ensure this doesn't happen again", including moving the discharge pipes from the tank so that it discharges into on-site lagoons rather than the company has also introduced a new regime of weekly proactive checks and has improved internal communication with operatives, it said.A spokesperson said: "We've also invested in improved monitoring and equipment at Ingbirchworth Water Treatment Works."Separately, we know our wider pollution performance hasn't been where it should be. "We are investing £8.3 billion over the next five years to improve service levels, cut pollution and make Yorkshire's water infrastructure fit for the future." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
CBS News
08-07-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Impending mayfly hatch causes southeastern Minnesota bridge to go dark
The lights will go out on a bridge over the Mississippi River in Winona, Minnesota, for the next few weeks to squelch the impact of a mayfly hatch. The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the overhead lights on the Highway 43 bridges will be off until mayflies fully hatch, "to reduce the number of mayflies on the bridge." Having mayflies on the bridge can "cause dangerous driving conditions because it becomes slippery," MnDOT said. MnDOT While the insects are harmless, their sometimes overwhelming numbers can make them a nuisance. Still, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said they are extremely important in the aquatic food web, and are fed upon by other invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals. Mayflies spend 99% of their lives as larvae living in the sediment of freshwater systems like the Mississippi River, the DNR said. The hatching phenomenon in the Mississippi River occurs as the burrowing mayflies emerge all at once to mate, lay eggs and then die. In 2021, a massive hatch in downtown St. Paul blanketed the city's roads and sidewalks. A year later, a hatch near La Crosse, Wisconsin, was so large it showed up on radar.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Record breaking season for Utrecht's fish doorbell
Organisers behind the world's first fish doorbell say it's been a record breaking underwater camera was first set up five years ago to help the different fish species that swim in the canals of the Dutch city of Utrecht. Internet users who spot any fish waiting at the lock gate can ring a 'digital doorbell' to help the marine life carry on their year it was rung more than 200,000 times and thirteen different species of fish were popular site is now taking a break until March 2026. What's the latest? The fish doorbell season has been underway for the past 14 weeks, helping a number of aquatic species swim through the canals. Researchers say that the best time to see the fish is either in the morning or at dusk - when they are at their most year there were a record 30 million visits to the site from around the world, with thousands of fish safely helped through the waterway. Experts say that pike, catfish and lots of eels were among them most common types of fish spotted this year - but other species including carp, zander, bleak and river lamprey were also caught on camera! Why do fish need a doorbell? Every spring, fish swim upstream around the Dutch city of Utrecht looking for a place to lay the Netherlands is a country with lots of canals and waterways and, in spring, the lock gates along these canals aren't opened much, which can make it difficult for fish to travel to their breeding why four years ago experts came up with a plan to help the aquatic animals - a digital fish doorbell!An underwater camera was installed at the lock which is live-streamed to a website which people can watch anytime of soon as they spot a fish, viewers can press a digital doorbell on the website to let the lockkeepers know when to open the gates and let the fish through - helping the fish to continue on their route!The keeper checks if there are enough fish there to open the gates and the fish can swim on their merry way.
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Dangerous pesticides and pet flea treatment detected in English rivers for first time
Dangerous modern pesticides used in agriculture and pet flea treatment have been detected for the first time in English rivers, research has found. Scientists have called for stricter regulation around high-risk farming pesticides and flea treatments for pets because of the deadly effects they have on fish and other aquatic life when they make their way into rivers. The research, by the British Geological Survey, evaluated the pollution by such pesticides in the waters and sediments of two English rivers: the Tone in Somerset, which runs through Taunton; and the Wensum in Norfolk, which runs through Norwich. Scientists from the BGS and the University of Nottingham tested water, sediments, fish and invertebrates along the two rivers for 52 pesticides and found that the veterinary pesticide fipronil, which is used as an anti-flea treatment for dogs, was measured at high concentrations. It is thought to get into rivers by dogs swimming in them, and has been found to be toxic to aquatic life. They also found high concentrations of propiconazole, a fungicide commonly used in agriculture, in the rivers. This has been found to have negative health effects on fish. Cats and dogs are widely treated with insecticides to prevent fleas. Vets often recommend regular flea treatments as a preventive measure, even when dogs and cats do not have the pest. But scientists now recommend animals should not be treated for fleas unless they actually have them. Highly toxic neonicotinoid pesticides, which can be lethal to insects and fish even at very small concentrations, were found in both rivers. At one third of the sites sampled, the level of neonicotinoids exceeded the chronic threshold for aquatic invertebrates, meaning they are affecting the health of these organisms. This data has formed one of the most comprehensive assessments of pesticides in any English river catchment to date. Dr Christopher Vane, head of organic chemistry at BGS, said: 'Modern chemical pesticides have positive applications, such as veterinary medicines helping prevent fleas in domestic pets, and in UK agriculture where herbicides, insecticides an fungicides can help prevent food shortages by protecting crops from various pests. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'However, our research has highlighted that these pesticides are now present in English rivers and could potentially pose threats to the local wildlife. To help mitigate the risk to ecosystem health, additional protective measures are needed to promote more environmentally sustainable practices, alongside the introduction of stricter regulation around the most high-risk pesticides to help protect our rivers from further impact.' The researchers said more studies needed to be done on the prevalence of modern pesticides in English rivers and other countries' waterways, as well as their impact on aquatic life.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Ireland's plan to weaken legal protections for waterways will push many of them beyond recovery
If I went to my doctor with a cancerous tumour that was treatable and curable, and he shrugged it off and told me to accept it – knowing that without treatment, it would eventually kill me – I'd think he had lost his mind. Yet this is how the Irish State plans to treat some of our most treasured rivers, lakes and estuaries. According to a proposal from the Department of Housing , certain iconic stretches of waters on the likes of the Shannon, Boyne and Blackwater rivers will no longer be viewed as needing restoration. Instead, they will face a future as engineered channels. In the 1980s and '90s, Europeans began to recognise that their rivers were in severe decline due to decades of neglect. Naturally meandering waterways were straightened, drained and dammed; chemicals, pesticides and untreated sewage poured into them unchecked. The problem was cross-border: the Danube, which flows through 10 countries, became saturated with pollution. In 1986, a fire at a chemical warehouse near Basle, Switzerland, caused the Rhine river to turn red with mercury and dyes, as vast amounts of toxic waste flowed hundreds of kilometres downstream into Germany and the Netherlands. Drinking water supplies were shut off, and aquatic life, such as European eels, was decimated. What was clear was that Europe needed a unified, legally binding approach to water protection that set out common rules, clear responsibilities and shared goals. By 2000, a plan was in place that aimed to safeguard waterways not only for aquatic life but also as a source of drinking water, transport and leisure for humans. This law, known as the Water Framework Directive, has a clear objective: to ensure all waterbodies reach at least 'good status', meaning they are clean, healthy and safe for swimming and drinking. Built into the plan is a legal recognition that some waterbodies, especially in highly industrialised countries such as Germany, have been altered so extensively that returning them to their natural state would be impossible or potentially harmful to human interests and security. These are placed in a special category, called 'heavily modified water bodies', and are legally exempt from the requirement to achieve 'good' status. They include reservoirs supplying drinking water, canals designed for navigation or drainage, urban rivers confined within concrete channels or culverts, ports, harbours and rivers drained for agricultural use. READ MORE While they cannot be used as dumping grounds for pollutants, the law accepts that these waters will never be restored or naturalised. For that reason, the principle guiding 'heavily modified' designation should be balanced and factor in whether it serves the widest possible interest: their number should be kept to a minimum, and where ongoing engineering and management is necessary – for example, in a reservoir or port – they must deliver significant benefit to the public. Ireland has 33 heavily modified water bodies, including Poulaphouca reservoir, which provides drinking water to Dublin; Cork Harbour for industrial activity; and New Ross Port in Wexford, run by the council as a transport route. But under the department's proposal, released in March, this number will increase by 1,312 per cent. It includes 122 waterbodies that run through some of Ireland's unique natural areas. It includes stretches of the Nore, Brosna, Maigue, Liffey, Fergus, Mulkear and Carrowbeg rivers; lakes such as Lough Corrib and Lough Derg; and estuaries like Lower Suir. [ Pollution on the Liffey: Algal blooms at Blessington a threat to Dublin's drinking water Opens in new window ] Why does the State want to all but give up on these waters? The problem stems from a law dating back to 1945, the Arterial Drainage Act, which gives the State sweeping powers to carry out large-scale drainage works, such as deepening, widening, dredging and straightening. Eighty years ago – when we knew nothing about climate warming – the law was viewed as progressive; today it clashes with the Water Framework Directive because this extent of drainage causes severe damage, irreversibly stripping rivers of their natural life and course. Ireland cannot abide by one law with the other. As long as these waters are drained, they will never meet the standards set by EU water law. Reservoirs, ports, canals and harbours must be operational, and as such, designating them as 'heavily modified' is in the public interest, as their functional demands cannot be fulfilled while simultaneously attempting restoration. But in the future, who'll benefit from the continual dredging of the Clare river in Galway, once one of our most natural rivers and now, in many parts, a canalised channel? Or the river Brosna, whose waters followed a meandering course through Offaly before its curves were straightened and its channel deepened? And how is it justified in the public interest, given that drainage makes our towns and cities more – not less – vulnerable to flash flooding? Instead of reshaping drainage policy so that it's fit for the critical challenges we face – not least, the chaotic mix of water shortages and drought, extreme weather events and rapidly warming waters – what's proposed is simply remove these waters from any hope of being restored to full health. Never before have our waterways needed climate and nature-proofed policies more. Our waters are warming at levels never seen before – for example, in Lough Feeagh in Mayo, the heat in the water has been above the long-term average (recorded since 1960) since January. Sea temperatures have soared. This is the future for which we need to rapidly prepare. Under the Nature Restoration Law, we're required to restore at least 20 per cent of our land and sea areas by 2030, increasing to 90 per cent by 2050. That includes rewetting organic soils, like those at the headwaters of the river Boyne, which are currently drained. Instead of giving up on our waters and relegating them to a lower standard – all for the sake of an outdated, 80-year-old law – now is the time to put energy into nature-based solutions, which are proven to be effective and cheap as a way to reduce flood risk, improve soil health and meet climate, nature and water goals without abandoning the land. We can't ignore the facts: our waterways are facing immense pressure, and some are already critically ill. Even if our only concern was water security, the urgent need for restoration is clear. This proposal to weaken their legal protections will only speed up their deterioration. Across Ireland, communities are volunteering to revive the life in their local waters. If this legal loophole is allowed, their efforts will be in vain. In effect, the State would be like a doctor unfit to practice – turning its back on the patient instead of providing care. As a result, many of our most treasured rivers and lakes will, without question, slip beyond recovery.
