Environment Agency Wales say that it is ‘increasingly likely the River Dee pollution incident that killed thousands of fish has been caused by someone deliberately disposing of a substance in the river.’
The Agency’s Northern Area Manager, David Gatehouse, said the Agency was still not ruling out any possible cause of the incident which hit the river in the Bangor-on-Dee area more than two weeks ago.
Although the Agency believes as time goes on that there is less likelihood of the pollution being the result of an accidental discharge from a factory or other commercial premises.
‘We still have not managed to trace the source of the pollutant or its exact nature,’ said Mr Gatehouse. ‘Investigations involving sophisticated analytical instruments including mass spectrometry for the analysis of organic and inorganic compounds have so far failed to identify the pollutant. This is possibly due to the polluting compound breaking down in the water before the tests could be carried out.’
However, David Gatehouse said that given the possibility that some substance was deliberately dumped in the river, the Agency was continuing its comprehensive publicity campaign requesting that the public continue to come forward with any information they feel may be of help (01244 550 124).
