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Post by alf1951 on Aug 3, 2015 5:43:17 GMT
I'm sorry if this is just a rant but activity in the field next to us over the weekend has stirred up some long held concerns.
We moved to our current home 20 years ago. The beck bordering our property was sufficiently well populated with aquatic life, including eels, to attract heron during the Summer months. There were wee beasties in abundance and by this time of year, I've usually accumulated a plentiful supply of (generally out of focus) images of bugs and beetles. This year, I can count on one hand the number of butterflies I've seen, no larvae, no ladybirds, in fact not much of anything. The unusual level of activity at the bird feeders this year is probably because there is little else for them to eat.
For most of the last 20 years the fields were occupied by sheep or cattle and the occasional crop for silage. Sheep are now a rare sight, understandable - no money in them. Dairy cattle are kept a couple of miles away, mostly indoors, and the fields around us now contain either oil seed rape or winter barley. Not hard to understand why there is a local decline in invertebrates. I know it's a global issue (Dirzo, R. et al; "Defaunation in the Anthropocene", Science 25 July 2014: Vol. 345 no. 6195 pp. 401-406) but there must be a lot could be done at a local level to better reduce this decline. Which brings me to this weekend.
Winter barley requires a up to 3 applications of fungicide each year, herbicides are sprayed in July and possibly in the Autumn along with insecticides to control aphid and/or nitrates to boost growth. I'm not sure what the effect of these have us when the sprays drift in our direction - we certainly smell it. Indoor cattle produce copious amounts of waste but there are rules about spraying slurry on the land to avoid run-off into water courses. In one of the wettest Summers I can recall, the field next to us is water-logged. It (and our house) is officially a flood risk area but that doesn't stop the farmer spraying slurry onto the field. Close to our house (and beck), the tractor and slurry tank sank into the soft, sodden ground. Only by dumping most of the contents to lighten the load was the farmer able to extricate himself from the mire - and return with more slurry to spray on the rest of the field. Guidelines suggest that slurry is NOT sprayed on waterlogged ground. No wonder we never see a heron anymore - there can be very little life left in the beck. I've no idea what to do about it other than further alienate the farmer. Alf
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Post by rowanberry on Aug 4, 2015 7:41:38 GMT
Alf, I don't know what to say, other than I do sympathise with your situation.
Near where I live is a small woodland, and the stream running through it is polluted by runoff from the road that runs along the upper side. This is because quite a few of the houses there have washing machines, etc. plumbed into the groundwater system rather than the sewage like they are supposed to, and so it ends up flowing through the woods. Nothing can live in the stream- no frogs, no water insects of any kind, and all the council do is put up signs warning people not to let their children play in it, or allow their dogs to drink it.
I googled about the slurry being sprayed like you've described, and all I could find were recommendations to farmers not to do it... there doesn't seem to be any reason for them NOT to, though. No fines or penalties for causing environmental damage, (or to their neighbour's health.)
It does get so frustrating- by now, we should be aware of how fragile this planet is, but we still carry on wrecking it.
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Post by shirl100 on Aug 4, 2015 16:20:41 GMT
In Derbyshire we have a pollution "hotline" for the Environment Agency - they are very interested in people reporting any sort of pollution entering the water courses, might be worth a try if you have something similar for your area. We have a local brook and from time to time the brook turns milky - suspected washing machine contents entering the water course. What the EA said was ring immediately if seen so they can check it out before it disperses.
Shirl
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Post by alf1951 on Aug 5, 2015 6:06:44 GMT
Thanks for the comments. Might be worth a call to EA - have had dealings with them over our being designated a flood zone so might try the contact I had over that.
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Post by alf1951 on Aug 10, 2015 6:34:28 GMT
A fairly standard response from the Environment Agency who will pass my concerns on to the "relevant team" although if I want to report "pollution, fish in distress or dumping of hazardous waste" I should call the hotline. I cannot honestly say that pollution has got into the beck and I doubt there are any fish left to get "distressed". The slurry spraying continues with another tractor/tanker combo getting stuck in the muddy waterlogged field again this weekend. It will be interesting to hear what the relevant team have to say.
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Post by shirl100 on Aug 10, 2015 18:17:46 GMT
Let's hope "the team" take an interest, hopefully they may send someone out to sample the water quality, let us know if you hear anything
Shirl
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Post by alf1951 on Sept 9, 2015 5:58:44 GMT
A final word
"I will pass your comments onto the relevant team and will come back to you with their response. The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations state that a public authority must respond to requests for information within 20 working days however we always aim to provide an answer as soon as we can." - The Environment Agency.
It's now 24 "working days" since this was sent to me by email. Needless to say I've not heard a word from them. Meanwhile the field has been ploughed, no mean achievement with repeated problems of tractors getting bogged down. A dry spell improved the land and enabled them to sow the winter barley although weeks after the seed had germinated in other fields. Any contamination of the water course should have washed well down stream by now (via The Eden and Solway and out to the Irish Sea). I see little point in pursuing this any further with the Environment Agency but I'm puzzled as they were so prompt in dealing with the flooding issue earlier in the year - pollution by farmers is clearly lower on the agenda.
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Post by alf1951 on Sept 12, 2015 8:39:33 GMT
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Post by shirl100 on Sept 12, 2015 10:40:01 GMT
Isn't it just dreadful, as a human race we really should give more thought to what we are doing. Accidents will always happen but at least we should make every effort to prevent them. The results of not doing so can be so devastating on the environment and the ecosystems within it. Having said that I suspect the Environment Agency are very interested in all pollution incidents but just don't have the resources to react to all of them.
Shirl
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