§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps have been taken to improve the cleanliness of the Tees in the last five years; and what improvements there have been in the life of the river resulting from such action. [25445]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Tees Barrage, which became operational in 1996, protects the river Tees from pollution discharged to the estuary and the river upstream of the barrage is now generally of good or very good quality. In 2001, 1,260 salmon and sea trout were counted in the fish trap at the Tees Barrage compared with 241 sea trout and salmon five years earlier. However, numbers of fish trapped in the barrage fish trap represent only a fraction of those running through the estuary and it is estimated that up to 20,000 salmon and sea trout migrated through the Tees during 2001. There is now also a healthy colony of breeding seals at Teesmouth.
The Environment Agency, working with industry, Northumbrian Water, local authorities and English Nature has also overseen dramatic improvements in water quality in the Tees estuary. In 2000, Northumbrian Water completed and commissioned the Bran Sands Treatment Complex at a cost of f270 million. Domestic sewage and industrial effluents are now biologically treated to a very high standard before being discharged to the estuary.
Whereas 10 years ago there was no oxygen present in the estuary during the warm summer months, the main estuary is now classed as good or fair quality.
Biological oxygen demand (BOD) which measures the amount of oxygen consumed in water, usually by organic pollution, has been reduced from a daily load of 150 tonnes in 1990 to 35 tonnes in 2000. The daily load of ammonia, which is toxic to fish, has been reduced from 59 tonnes in 1990 to 14 tonnes in 2000. Inputs of other toxins such as organic chemicals and metals have also been reduced as a result of improved processes and treatment systems, better environmental management, recycling and reuse. Two major ammonia reduction investments in 2001 should bring environmental benefits in 2002. Programmes to further reduce ammonia and biological oxygen demand are programmed for 2002.