Walsall Canal to reopen to navigation next week

THE SECTION OF the Walsall Canal that was contaminated by cyanide is to reopen to navigation next week.

Originally a 12 miles section of a canal was closed after an estimated 880 gallons (4,000 litres) of sodium cyanide and other chemicals leaked into the water, Janet Friend reports.

Closed to navigation

Though most of the waterway reopened later in the year after testing, the section close to the spill remained closed to navigation.

The canal being closed from north of Ocker Hill Junction to the Wyrley & Essington Canal Junction, as work was being taken to remove the contaminated silt from the canal bed.

Anochrome Ltd, a metal finishing company, that caused the spill, had covered costs for remedial work on the canal throughout the entire process.

Was delighted

The company told that it was delighted that the waterway was set to reopen fully.

At the time of the spill a senior lecturer in geosciences, Dr Jonathan Paul, claimed the situation [with the cyanide spill] would hopefully be resolved within a week.