Hundred of eels found dead after contamination
Environment Canterbury (ECan) is investigating the source of a contamination in a north Christchurch stream that left almost 1000 eels and fish dead.
Hundreds of lifeless fish were discovered in a stretch of Kaputone Creek in Belfast yesterday. Eels made up the bulk of the dead animals.
The Press found dead fish in a section of the creek between Silver Fern Farms’ Belfast plant and where it flows into the Styx River at Marshland Rd.
Eels were often clumped together in groups on the stream bed, while some were washed up at the banks. It is not yet clear what species of fish were killed, and no dead birds or other animals were spotted.
Silver Fern Farms plant manager Phil Kilgour told The Press he was unaware of the dead fish and had not been contacted by ECan.
He and his staff later went out to take water samples along the stream. There is no evidence to suggest the contamination came from the meat processor’s site.
The section of the creek is also close to the site of two controversial water bottling plants that have consent to take billions of litres of water from beneath Christchurch for a minimal cost.
ECan staff were alerted to the dead fish yesterday morning and four investigators spent the day checking the stream, testing water and assessing downstream, as well as talking to local businesses.
Steve Firth, ECan’s local acting zone manager, said: ‘‘Several staff went to the site and found about 800 dead eels and fish along a fourkilometre stretch.
‘‘Along this stretch the contaminant has diluted due to the good water flow which means that after this point we found schools of live fish and eels.
‘‘At this stage, we don’t know what the contaminant was.’’
Results of the water samples are expected to take at least 48 hours.