Angling Trust Supports Thames Tunnel The Angling Trust welcomes the Government’s decision to press on with the the Thames Tunnel

Author: Press Release Date: 21 September 2010

The Angling Trust is lending its support to the Thams Tunnel project to help clean up the River Thames by stopping millions of tonnes of sewage overflowing into the river each year.

After as little as 2mm of rainfall, London’s Victorian sewers can fill up and as there is nowhere else for the sewage to go, it spills into the Thames as an alternative to backing up into houses and streets. These sewage overflows occur around 50 times a year on average and have had a major impact on angling enjoyment and fisheries in the tideway for many years.

Without Thames Water’s London Tideway Improvements – three major schemes to tackle the problem – ten years from now the 39 million tonnes of sewage, which is currently discharged into the river annually, is forecast to rise to an unthinkable 70 million tonnes. Work has already started on the £635 four mile Lee Tunnel in east London which will help prevent 16 million tonnes of sewage entering the River Lee each year.

In addition, a £675m upgrade to London’s five major sewage works is under way to enable the sites to treat more sewage and treat it to an even higher standard, improving river water quality.

The Thames Tunnel is the final and most challenging of the three schemes. Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust, said: “Improvements in sewage treatment over the last 20 years have brought real benefits to the River Thames, which is now generally cleaner, but sewage discharges are a big problem getting worse. In the 21st Century, it is totally unacceptable for raw sewage to flood into any of our watercourses, including this fantastic river which runs through the heart of our capital. Discharges leave behind disgusting conditions for anglers and river users, including human excrement, sanitary products and toilet paper. But worse, it creates slugs of oxygen-depleting pollution which move back and forth on the tide harming fish in this vitally important habitat for marine and freshwater fish. There have been several major fish kills of fish up to specimen size in recent years.

“The Thames Tunnel and associated projects will tackle this and ensure that we, and future generations, have a river to be proud of, and a fantastic angling resource for millions of people living in the South East of England and beyond. The Angling Trust is encouraging anglers to take part in Thames Water’s 14-week public consultation, which started last week, by visiting: www.thamestunnelconsultation.co.uk

The proposed Thames Tunnel is a 20 mile sewer which will run from west to east London, upto 75metres below ground, broadly following the route of the River Thames. It will pick up discharges from the 34 most polluting sewer overflows, as identified by the Environment Agency, before transferring the flows to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works to be treated.