Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent oil spillage in the River Lea on (a) the health and well-being of local residents and (b) local wildlife.

The Environment Agency (EA) was first notified of the pollution at Tottenham Locks at 11:20 on Sunday 11 February 2018. Within 2 hours of receiving the first call the EA had deployed field teams to investigate and within 3 hours it had also notified the Canal and River Trust and the Swan Sanctuary. The decision to notify was based upon visual inspection of the river and the growing number of reports received relating to concerns for wildlife, primarily swans and ducks.

Public Health England has provided advice as follows:

Health effects are likely to be minimal given the open environment. Members of the public may report an unpleasant smell but again this does not necessarily indicate that there is any health effect associated with the smell: for many volatile chemicals, they can be detected by smell at levels below which they cause health effects. However, any members of the public who do report feeling unwell should seek health care/advice from their GP, NHS 111 or A&E.

Notices should be put up in the affected areas warning the public to avoid contact with the water especially dog walkers (whose dogs should be kept on the lead), anglers, canoeists or others performing water sports. The water should not be drunk, bathed in or used for washing or cooking.

The incident has had a significant, localised effect on water quality, impacted on the quality and use of the river and caused minor damage to nature conservation.

The EA, along with its contractors Adler and Allan, has been working to remove oil from the River Lea Navigation since 12 February 2018. The EA is also being assisted with clean-up efforts by the Canal and River Trust and volunteers at various locations between Stonebridge Locks and Old Ford Locks.

Thames Water Utilities Limited, which owns the surface water sewer and outfall from which the oil entered the Pymmes Brook at Tottenham Marshes, has also contracted Adler and Allan to flush through the drainage system and tanker off any residual oil still present at the outfall and within the infrastructure.

Once the works have been completed at the outfall there should be no further oil from this particular incident. The EA expects that the effects of the pollution on the watercourse will be cleared by 9 March, dependant on factors such as weather conditions for moving specialised equipment.

The EA records, assesses and responds to pollution incidents that are reported to it. Where there are repeated oil pollution incidents in a particular location, the EA works with partners to investigate and take the required steps to advise businesses and householders on the actions they need to take to stop the pollution and prevent recurrence. If enforcement action is required the EA can serve enforcement notices to require actions to be taken, and for the most serious incidents it can prosecute offenders.

In November 2017 EA and the Canal and River Trust (CRT) agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure effective co-operation between them in dealing with pollution incidents, including oil spills, in or affecting CRT’s waterway network. The EA will continue to lead on the more serious category 1 and category 2 pollution incidents affecting CRT waterways, while CRT will lead on the less serious category 3 and 4 incidents. The CRT and EA will work together on incident response, cost recovery, and on local contacts and working together arrangements.

In a typical recent year (2016) the EA recorded 310 water pollution incidents in canals and inland waterways, of which 25 were categorised as serious. Typically around 25% of water pollution incidents reported to the EA involve oil as a pollutant.

The EA and CRT have the capacity to deal with incidents on a risk basis. New approaches, such as the MoU, enable them to be even more effective by pooling resources. Where a large oil spill affects a waterbody the EA can call in extra resources such as specialist contractors to carry out clean-up work. Where the polluter is identified the EA can recover the costs of the clean up under section 161 of the Water Resources Act.