Swans, ducks and geese rescued from diesel spill
AROUND 25 swans, geese and ducks have been rescued by the RSPCA and local volunteers after Bumble Hole pool in Netherton became polluted with oil.
Animal rescuer RSPCA inspector Boris Lasserre said, “This is the worst oil spill I’ve ever seen. It has affected a lot of the birds very badly, with many of them collapsed and hypothermic. But with the help of a fantastic team of local volunteers, we initially managed to save around 25 birds which were sent for treatment at our Stapeley Grange specialist wildlife centre in Nantwich.
“It was a very difficult rescue operation as many of the birds were almost impossible to reach, not just in the water but stuck in wooded undergrowth around the lake. Sadly, a few of the birds haven’t made it, but the volunteers have been brilliant – without them it would be so much worse.”
Toxic
12 geese, nine ducks, three coots and one swan were taken to the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre where the team washed the smelly, toxic oil off them. Sadly, five of the ducks and one goose were so badly affected that they didn’t make it, but the remaining birds are now in reasonable condition and being cared for until they are ready to be returned to the wild. They will remain at Stapeley
Grange until Bumble Hole has been cleaned up, as they cannot go back to a polluted pool.
If oil is not removed from waterbirds it reduces the natural waterproofing in their plumage, leaving them at risk of dying from hypothermia – so it is vital that they are treated as soon as possible.
Clean-up
The clean-up operation at Bumble Hole Pool, at Bumble Hole Nature Reserve, has so far cost the taxpayer more than £25,000, with investigations ongoing.
Dudley Council bosses are currently working with Severn Trent Water to try and locate the source of the spillage – and have appealed for
anyone with information to come forward.
The maximum penalty for a water discharge activity offence is up to five years in prison and/or an unlimited fine – and chiefs have warned that those responsible could be prosecuted if caught.
The substance, believed to be mainly red diesel with traces of cooking oil, left a red substance lying on the surface of the water when it came through the surface water drainage system and a culvert into the pool on December 29.
A number of small fish were found dead on the surface while wildlife
were coated with a dark substance.
Contractors on behalf of the council worked with nature reserve volunteers to contain the diesel and begin to clear it.
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for public realm, said: “I hope whoever has done this is able to sleep at night. It has seen ducks, a goose and a number of small fish killed and cost the taxpayer thousands to clean up.
“Without the quick actions of volunteers at the nature reserve who reported it, we could have seen an even more serious
impact on the nature reserve and our wonderful local wildlife who suffered greatly as a result of this despicable act.
“We are therefore very keen to find whoever is responsible and I would urge anyone who may have any information to get in touch.
Deliberate
“It looks like it may have been a deliberate act, and if that is the case and we find whoever is responsible we will not hesitate to prosecute through the courts.
“People need to understand
that the substances poured away without a thought for where it ends up cannot only kill wildlife but they can also be prosecuted. Pleading ignorance be no defence.
“This is a lesson to us all to be careful what we are tipping down our drains, as often surface water from homes and the highway feeds directly into natural pools used by our wildlife.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Dudley Council Plus by emailing dudleycouncil plus@dudley.gov.uk or calling 0300 555 2345. will