§ Lord Onslow of Wokingasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list the known cases of pollution of watercourses in England and Wales by pyrethroid sheep dips since the use of such products first began, indicating in each case the extent of the resulting environmental damage. [HL798]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman)The Environment Agency, which is responsible for monitoring the aquatic environment in England and Wales, has recorded the following confirmed incidents of pollution by synthetic pyrethroid (SP) sheep dip during the past 18 months:
180WA
Region North West Region River Irthing Severe damage to invertebrates for 20 km. fish population unaffected. River Ehen Severe damage to invertebrates, some impact on juvenile pearl mussels. Marked impact for 1 km, some impact over 7 km. Welsh Region Sgithwen Brook Total mortality of crayfish and invertebrates for 5 km. Nant Bwich y Pawl Severe invertebrate mortality and widespread population reductions for 9 km. Significant levels of pesticides found in the river sediment. River Clun Severe invertebrate mortality for 11 km. Afon Trannon Decline in biological quality detected for 7 km. Llwydiarth Brook Poor biological quality found by survey. Afon Erith Moderate decline in invertebrate life for 3.5 km.
Region Other regions Cotterdale Beck Total mortality of crayfish and invertebrates for 6 km. Additionally, the agency suspects that SPs were responsible for the following pollution incidents: North West Region Helm Beck Invertebrate mortality for several km. River Caldew Severe damage to invertebrates for 30 km, fish population unaffected. River Glendermackin Severe damage to invertebrates for 6 km. fish population unaffected. River Ellen Invertebrate population reductions for 5 km. Croglin Water Invertebrate population reductions for over 6 km. Burblethwaithe Beck Severe damage to invertebrates. Welsh Region River Elan Extensive fish and invertebrate mortality for 3 km.