§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will require the National Rivers Authority to review the effectiveness of its communications and emergency planning systems with the emergency services;
117W(2) if he will seek an urgent meeting with the chairman of the National Rivers Authority to discuss its response to the recent pollution incident in the Rhymney river;
(3) if he will take steps to ensure that the National Rivers Authority implements a programme of re-stocking of the Rhymney river to replace fish stocks lost during the recent pollution incident;
(4) what information he has about the extent of pollution of the Rhymney river following an incident on 17 November; what were the numbers and species of fish killed; and if he will make a statement;
(5) what information he has about the loss of or damage to the fauna and flora of the Rhymney river, other than fish life, following the recent pollution incident.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe pollution incident on 17 November affected approximately 20 km of the River Rhymney between New Tredegar and Machen. The National Rivers Authority estimates that some 20,000 fish were killed, the majority of which were brown and juvenile sea trout but some grayling and small numbers of juvenile salmon, roach, chub, rainbow trout, pike, adult salmon and sea trout were also affected. There is no discernable evidence of damage of the flora or other fauna of the river. The authority proposes to commence a restocking programme early in 1990.
The NRA will be producing a full report on the incident which will be copied to me. The Welsh region of the Authority has a formal procedure for continually reviewing the effectiveness of its communications and emergency planning systems.