Fife fishing club angered at lack of support after toxic spill killed hundreds of fish

Scottish environmental watchdog SEPA says Scottish Water's accidental release of 500 litres of Zetag into the river in 2018 - for which it was later fined £6,700 - will continue to have effects on salmon and trout numbers for years.

It also agreed that the spill, caused by a forklift operator, had "serious financial consequences" for the local fishing club, the Eden Angling Association.

However, the club has not been compensated or financially supported in any way to restock the river.

A new report, released to Fife Council's north east area committee, provides detail on how a forklift operator punctured a large container of Zetag while attempting to move it from storage at the Cupar Wastewater Treatment Works.

It further details how workers hosed and mopped the spilled chemical - which gathers foreign objects in water to make them easier to remove - towards drains that discharged into the Eden itself.

The watchdog found that Scottish Water employees were not well trained in handling chemicals, and were unaware of the harmful side-effects of Zetag in open water.

It concluded: "The incident had serious financial consequences for the local angling club and is likely to have an impact on salmon and trout numbers for four or five years."

While much of the information in the paper had been heard in court when Scottish Water was prosecuted for polluting, SEPA does not routinely publish details of its investigation reports.

The government body took the unconventional step of publishing a public report following a request from Lib Dem councillor Jonny Tepp on behalf of stablemate Margaret Kennedy.

Cllr Kennedy has previously expressed her concerns that investigations of environmental hazards were not being conducted transparently and that little was being done to compensate bodies such as the Eden Angling Association for the loss of fish.

She told a committee meeting today [Wednesday]: "There was no restocking, and there doesn't seem to be any financial support for the Eden Angling Association to work with bodies to restock and look at the ecological future of the River Eden.

"I think I have all seen other instances where there has been something of that ilk."

She has resolved to discuss this issue with Sepa, as the Eden Angling Association remains unhappy with the punishment doled out to Scottish Water.

David Farmer, secretary and treasurer, says membership numbers dwindled in the aftermath of the spill and the organisation has been forced to dip into its reserves to stay afloat, with no support forthcoming from SEPA.

His anxieties over water quality have recently been exacerbated by a fresh chemical spill that occured in May on the Ceres Burn, which feeds into the Eden.

A SEPA investigation into that incident is ongoing, but it is understood that it is not in any way connected to the Eden accident.

Farmer said of the Scottish Water affair: “The sheriff produced some miniscule fine which is not the right kind of message to send, particularly to someone who has caused so much damage.

“It’s only a small number of salmon that come up the river – and losing them has a long term effect.”

Club records show that 32 salmon were caught in 2017. In 2018, this dropped to just nine, but recovered last year to 24.

“We’re not getting support from SEPA – the whole system for looking after the environment is broken,” Farmer added.

“A £6,700 fine is a joke – particularly because it goes right back to the Scottish Government and we see none of it despite the fact it would help us restock the river.

“We need more transparency on what’s being done to protect the rivers. People might understand [the action taken] if SEPA was more transparent but it’s not.

“Their reliance on the community for reporting is all reactive. There’s no effort to be proactive with the community at all. We don’t know if they’re doing anything like that at all. The experience to date is not good.”

Steve Archibald, a local SEPA officer, said: "In relation to proactive work, what SEPA does routinely is take sampling of water courses.

"There's also routine scheduled inspections and work with associated farms and indeed on Scottish Water sewage works."

Following its conviction, Scottish Water said it had acted to reduce the risk of a spill occurring again at its Cupar facility by changing how Zetag was handled and providing staff with improved training.

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