The Diamond geezers?

 

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River Tame Pollution.

For many years now I have borne witness to a never ending surge of grime coming out of a brook that flows underneath The Mainline Birmingham Canal and railway line that feeds into the River Tame. Sheepwash Nature Local Nature Reserve and its pools are also part of this system.

The pollution has come in different forms over this time; formerly there was the regular diesel oil iridescence. The article below is From The Express and Star dated 3/4/2001 and shows then Assistant Divisional Officer John Rees inspecting the oil.

More latterly the pollution has taken the form of  a sweet smelling wash type substance, sometimes with accompanying bubbles. It is clear that it originates with vehicles being washed. Dozens of calls have been put into the Environment Agency over this time, and still they along with Severn Trent, who own this surface water sewer from whence this brown/grey shite arises appear incapable of stopping it at source.

 

The grime forms a paste and then a dirty fungus like material which smells a sweet smelling mixture of diesel, screen wash and cleaning fluids. Sometimes it forms suds, but the river itself and the culvert bank surrounding it turns a glazed brown.

The agency have now confirmed to me that they have detected ethylene glycol, a toxic poisonous chemical present in anti freeze at 33.2mg/litre. They claim that this is “a small amount”, (now where have I heard that phrase before 👿 !) but this depends on a dose that something would ingest, which if regularly consumed would result in chronic poisoning. The ethylene glycol is notorious for poisoning cats and dogs as they are attracted to the sweet smell and taste. Many dog walkers use the site and also cross the brook through the pollution. The solids present in the brook are unclearly characterised. A safety data sheet for ethylene glycol notes

“The substance may be toxic to kidneys, liver, central nervous system (CNS). Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated exposure to a highly toxic material may produce general deterioration of health by an accumulation in one or many human organs.”

This should set the alarm bells ringing and there is the possibility of pets catching something a bit nasty and getting a one way ticket to the vets.

So where is this shite coming from, and why do the authorities inspectors appear incapable of stopping this abysmal recurring pollution that is quite patently an unquantified risk to public health and wildlife?

The latter question I cannot answer, but the former is without doubt THE DIAMOND BUS DEPOT AT TIPTON ROAD.

Below is a map of the surface water sewer that flows from The Tipton Road, along John’s Lane past Rattlechain, which then turns sharp left and under the tunnel and out into the River Tame.

I have traced the smell, the same smell from the depot’s bus wash. It is the source and the same smell that hangs in the air. It is the same smell which you can smell from the manholes along the route down John’s Lane.

 

Allegedly, the clueless authorities claim to have lifted the covers, gone into the works and have pointed out some “issues”. The time before last that I contacted the agency via the 0800 incident line, it was a week before they sent out Severn Trent, who concluded that the pollution was “from the railway line.” I was not under the impression that pollution could run uphill, but so much for these bizarre investigations!

It is also the case that the Autobase site at some stage of ownership saw a cowboy landscaping job carried out on the embankment which actually buried a Seven Trent manhole, the last one shown on the above map before disappearing underneath the railway line and canal. Why the water company have not taken decisive legal action against the site owners for this illegal blockage remains unanswered. In the past both they and Diamond buses have claimed to have had inspections and work carried out, yet the pollution issues continue to blight The River Tame from this surface water sewer. The pollution is unlikely to be malicious, but the threat posed by the identified chemical MUST STOP without further delay.

It appears that Diamond buses have put in a planning application to house a new depot and bush wash at the site of the old SGS works along John’s Lane (who moved co-incidently into the Solvay works at Trinity Street)- well that has been objected to, because it’s about time they were stopped having a free pass to discharge material into the River.

 

 

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