Fish Legal is delighted to have won £6,000 damages on behalf of the Grantham Angling Club after bringing a civil claim against Omex Agriculture Limited, the chemical company responsible for the devastating pollution in 2002 of the River Witham in Lincolnshire.

In the early hours of 3 April, 25,000 litres of liquid fertiliser poured from an agricultural storage tank, made its way into a nearby ditch and flowed downhill into the Witham.  The chemical pollution moved slowly along the river, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, with dead fish obvious for up to 15 km downstream from the point at which the pollution entered the watercourse and raised ammonia levels detected as far as 38km away.  Large brown trout, chub, roach, grayling and barbel all perished and near to the source of the pollution. The valve on the tank was allegedly forced open in an act of vandalism but those responsible were never found.  The Environment Agency prosecuted the farmer and the supplier of the agricultural chemicals, Omex Agriculture Limited, who had supervised the siting of the tank on high ground, in an uninhabited farmyard, with inadequate security.

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Fish LegalGuy Linley-Adams, Fish Legal’s senior solicitor commented that: "Following the initial fish kill, many feared the watercourse would struggle to recover from such a high input of chemical fertiliser.  To the relief of local anglers two factors favour the long term recovery of the river – the first being the relative brisk flows of the Witham that have prevented algal blooms and excessive weed growth, the second being that some of the smallest fish managed to survive."

As Darryl Maelzer, member of the Grantham Angling Club explained: "It is thought that the ammonia moved down the river in a ribbon effect and many of the fry and juvenile fish escaped into the margins and survived, as did those fish that entered side drains to escape the pollution.  One farmer did notice a very large concentration of fish in one of these drains at Long Bennington on the day after the pollution."

The Grantham Angling Club has a long history of investment in habitat improvement on the River Witham.  The timing of the 2002 pollution was particularly galling for them having recently completed £32,000 of work to enhance the riverine system.  The club plan to use the Fish Legal compensation money to support their ongoing, targeted habitat projects in an effort to restore the Witham to its former glory.

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