Angler says sewage is destroying river wildlife

AN INTERNATIONAL angler claims sewage is regularly being pumped into a South Wales river, after spotting toilet paper, sanitary towels and human waste in the water.

Terry Bromwell, an angler for Wales and an office worker, captured footage of the grim find in the River Rhondda last week.

He said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. It’s happening every few hours, I’m told, and it’s been an ongoing problem for months.

“I am an angler and so I am always down the river.

“I heard it got dirty and there’s a lot of waste coming down with used sanitary towels and horrible things like that, so I took some footage.

“This is serious now. I have seen a decline in the quality of fish in the Rhondda River. This will hugely impact that.”

The Pontypridd-based angler said he was shocked when the pipes actually started pumping out waste while he was at the site in Porth.

He has been in touch with Natural Resources Wales (NRW), but added: “There’s nothing being done about it. It’s absolutely disgusting. There’s people fishing in there.

“I know they cannot keep on top of it all, but to have an outward flow right there is just horrible.

“It’s destroying nature and damaging.

“It takes the oxygen out of the water and is not just a risk to the water wildlife, it’s a risk to the anglers.

“We want to protect our rivers but it’s like hitting your head against a brick wall.”

Terry, 35, who posted the video to Facebook, added: “It’s gross and it shouldn’t be happening.

“Everyone I have spoken to feels the same way.

“Thirty or 40 people have got in touch with me since I posted the video to complain about it.

“It’s thousands and thousands of gallons and they’re poisoning it.

“In this day and age to be pumping sewage straight into the river – it’s turned to milk.

“It’s now filled with tissue paper and the smell is awful. What chance have our fish got to live in this?”

An NRW spokesman said: “Safeguarding the environment and people’s wellbeing is our main goal which is why we take pollution incidents so seriously.

“Pollution in the River Rhondda was reported to us and our officers are currently looking into the incident.

“We encourage anyone who witnesses a pollution incident to report it to us on 03000 65 3000.” is really