Death in the Moor Pool (From Warrington Guardian)

Death in the Moor Pool

SEWAGE that leaked into the Moor Pool has also infected Tatton Mere and killed hundreds of fish.

Yesterday (Tuesday) as the Guardian went to press Environment Agency bosses said the waste had seeped into the water and caused more than 350 deaths.

"We would classify that as a major incident," said a spokesman.

The agency said scientists had visited the mere and found dead fish in the water that originates from the Moor Pool.

The fish were mainly bream, which can grow to about 18 inches, and would have been due to lay thousands of eggs in May and June.

But Tatton Park rangers said they were still unaware if the leak had caused problems in the mere.

"All I'm aware of is that a contractor is there to look at the water quality," said team leader Phil Lucas.

Last week park rangers considered damming Tatton Mere with straw bales after the leak. Tim Birtles said a flow of untreated waste would be difficult to stop and devastating to wildlife in the water.

"We're still monitoring the situation at the moment," he said. "The two water bodies are linked and one can't help affecting the other."

On Friday untreated sewage leaked into the Moor Pool and killed hundreds of fish after equipment at a pumping station broke down.

United Utilities said a failure at its unmanned works near King Street caused the waste to spill into the water and starve the fish of oxygen.

On Monday Mr Birtles said Tatton Park was fortunate because reeds between the mere and the Moor Pool and heavy rain would dilute the pollution. "It probably will be diluted as we're hoping," he said.

"In an emergency the only other thing I could think of was damning the channel."

Hundreds of fish, which mainly included roach and perch, were killed on Friday after the untreated sewage affected oxygen levels in the Moor Pool.

Residents called the Knutsford Guardian to report the problem from about 9am on Friday after seeing the fish floating on the surface.

At the Moor Pool dog walkers, office workers and visitors to Knutsford all told the Guardian the sight was bad for the town's image.

"It's not good at all," said Neil Usher, 29. "It looks bad because there are big groups of them washed up."

A 43-year-old mum from Knutsford said her son had been distressed. "He was quite upset and asked why all the fish were dead," she said.

On Friday birds swooped on the Moor Pool to eat the fish.

The Environment Agency said birds feasting on them should not suffer any ill effects.

"Basically it lowers the oxygen levels in the water so they (the fish) can't survive," said a spokesman.

"The reason the fish died was a lack of oxygen and not because of eating the sewage."

On Monday the Environment Agency said it decided against pumping oxygen into the Moor Pool to save the fish because it was shallow. "Basically as it stood the situation had reached its peak," said a spokesman.

"We also decided not to rescue any of the fish because netting them stresses them out and would finish them off."

United Utilities recently spent million of pounds across the North West to stop sewage leaking into water supplies after heavy rain.

Bosses said the investment, although unrelated to the equipment failure that caused Friday's incident, showed they were committed to protecting wildlife.