Grave concerns about Walsall Canal contamination

ADMITTING that the Walsall cyanide spill was uncharted territory for it, Canal & River Trust is concerned at bringing the canal 'back to health'.

With various ideas of doing so stating that it could be months or years on the long road back to health, Janet Friend reports.

Sediment on canal floor

The trust is considering removing some of the water as it has concerns about sediment on the canal floor, with Contamination Officer, Karen Jackson telling:

“I’ve never known an incident like this in 20 years of pollution incidents on the canals, it’s not like when we’re dealing with oil or farm pollutions, where we know exactly what we need to do. With this, it’s unprecedented. We’re looking at lots of options but the fear is they may not be fully effective, and some are incredibly expensive.”

The operation to contain the poison and save the ecosystem along Walsall Canal has been a great effort by multiple agencies and volunteers and to also protect other waterways being affected.

Effect unknown

The Environment Agency quickly arranged dams to contain the polluted water, but the effects of cyanide on the water system is unknown. and adding more chemicals to neutralise whatever has been left on the bottom of the canal could have unintended side-effects.

One option is removing the contaminated water completely, and the charity is considering using a tanker to remove some of the water this week in case rainfall causes an overflow.

But there are an estimated 10 millions litres of water to move and treat that is near impossible, with Karen Jackson telling that 'we’re potentially looking at years for this problem to be sorted out.'