'Pollution could seriously damage local river system'

Mossley teenager Andrew Moore and his friend William Lyons were winners of a 2009 ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist of the Year award for their work on the section of the river which runs through Invest NI's Global Point land near the Mossley estate.

The boys, who are both members of Threemilewater Conservation and Angling Association, worked tirelessly on the narrow waterway, known locally as The Laid, for more than two-and-a-half years, clearing rubbish, deepening fish ponds, planting willows and adding structures to prevent erosion and encourage wildlife.

However, Andrew has revealed that an incident last Monday (April 26) when oil or diesel entered the watercourse, could threaten invertebrate life along The Laid and fish life further downstream.

"We were out checking the river as we do every evening. Before we reached the river, before it was even in sight, we began to smell an extremely pungent smell of oil or diesel. On approaching the river, we noticed a massive amount of the chemical flowing down the river," he explained.

Andrew and William called the Conservation and Angling Association's Head Bailiff, who in turn reported the incident to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

NIEA officials placed a floating boom across the river in a bid to stop the pollutant from spreading downstream, but Andrew says that it has been ineffective.

"This could wipe out invertebrate communities in the stretch as some aquatic insect species that inhabit the river are very pollution sensitive. The pollution may also have a detrimental effect on other wildlife such as bird life, specifically the grey heron and kingfisher.

"Thankfully there's been no apparent fish kill as yet, but with the low water levels it is difficult to tell at present how much damage the pollution will do as the chemical is trapped in the river due to the lack of rain," he added.

It is understood that the source of the pollution incident is still being investigated.