Years of lobbying by environmental groups, the Mayor of London, MPs and anglers have finally paid off with the announcement last week by Environment Minister Ian Pearson that the £2billion Thames Tideway sewage interceptor tunnel has been given the go-ahead.

The 30km tunnel will intercept sewage discharges from storm drain overflows and sewage works along the Thames Tideway and transport the waste to an East London treatment centre. Currently, untreated sewage is discharged into the Thames at times of high rainfall. If these discharges occur at times of low flows and low oxygen levels, massive fish kills can take place

In 2004 Labour’s Angling Spokesman Martin Salter asked the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone to put pressure on DEFRA to authorise work on the tunnel as soon as possible. This followed a particularly severe fish kill on the tideway between Richmond and London Bridge.

Martin Salter said:

“The pollution of the Thames in London was an environmental catastrophe.  Thousands of mature coarse fish perished as a huge slug of pollution entered the river downstream of Richmond Half-Lock.  Fish counts by the Environment Agency showed an almost total wipe-out of bass and flounder fry which has serious consequences for future stocks.  The angling world is understandably outraged that such a pollution can legally occur in this day and age.

I’m delighted that at long last the government has approved this vital scheme to clean up the tidal Thames once and for all. There is no point boasting about the return of salmon to London’s river if at times the water quality drops to as low as to the be unable to sustain even the most basic aquatic life. I suspect that the requirement of the EU Water Framework Directive which comes into force in 2015 and the forthcoming London Olympics were also factors that influenced the decision”

He added:

“I’ve still yet to realise my lifelong ambition to catch a fish from the grounds of the Palace of Westminster but it looks like I soon will.”

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