Southern Water is continuing with its efforts to help with a major cleanup at the River Test following a diesel spill from a premises on a nearby industrial estate.

The water company is not responsible for the diesel spill, which originated from a third party site on the Near Nursling Industrial Estate, but is working hard to mitigate the environmental impact this may have.

On 15th June 2021 the EA received a report from environmental consultants working for a company on an industrial estate close to the River Test that oil had been found in their groundwater monitoring wells and was found to be entering the surface water drainage system especially during heavy rainfall events.

Southern Water’s initial investigation located the source of the pollution to be the industrial estate. The pollution was the result of a large quantity of chemicals entering the surface water drain. The oil originates from the industrial estate and is neither a wastewater nor a CSO release.

The surface water drain is designed to take rainwater run-off only into the river.

Southern Water said a robust and regular maintenance schedule for the outfall where the surface drain with the diesel has been emerging has long been in place. The site has been properly maintained and flows are not restricted by any blockages.

The outfall always has booms in place to prevent the escape of general run off and debris– the water company said that due to the nature of the industrial estate there will always be some from traffic and business activity especially after rainfall.

The booms have been regularly replaced during the incident – Southern Water is also using specialist equipment to remove and clean contaminated water for re-introduction to the river.

The water company commented:

“We recognise the location is a sensitive and internationally important natural habitat and whilst primary responsibility for any further clean-up or remediation lies with the polluter, we are working closely with them and Natural England to ensure the impact to the environment is minimised. While it appears that there was only one incident of an oil spill, it continues to reach the river as rainfall continues to flush it through the surface water system.”

“ Whilst the pollution is not a consequence of any Southern Water activities, we are doing our utmost to help the situation and protect the environment. We will continue to assist the situation and take steps to minimise the risk of further pollutions from the Industrial Estate to both the watercourse and groundwater in the area.”

In its latest update published on Friday 2^nd July, Southern Water said it was continuing to assist with the pollution event and to work extremely hard in an area of the River Test to contain oil spilled by a third party from the nearby Industrial estate.

The utility also has its own ecologists onsite who are working closely with both the Environment Agency and Natural England. The third party company who reported the spill to the Environment Agency in mid-June, is also undertaking clean-up and mitigation action.

However, while the original source of the oil spill has now been stopped by the business owner, the oil which has seeped into the ground can continue to enter the river. Reeds in the river are also harbouring oil and Southern Water sought expert advice on cleaning.

Since the incident started the company has greatly increased the number of absorbent booms to block the oil’s path. It also has tankers sucking away the oil and taking it to a temporary processing plant set up in the area.

“Our priority is to continue to mitigate against the environmental impact this third party pollution may have"

Southern Water said in a statement:

“Our priority is to continue to mitigate against the environmental impact this third party pollution may have.

“We wish to assure everyone that we have undertaken thorough inspections of the area. We have seen the images posted on social media and recent video footage, however, we repeat our request for these to be shared directly with us to assist with the clean-up operation and prevent further impact on wildlife in this sensitive and internationally important habitat.

“It has been difficult to validate claims being made on social media without locations, dates and times being confirmed to us. So far we have done all we can to inspect the river to continue to look for evidence to aid this ongoing legal investigation.

“Even though the responsibility for the pollution and the clean-up rests with others, we are looking to undertake further environmental sampling. We are disappointed that we have not been allowed access to all of the local areas which has delayed this process.”

“Our priority remains preventing as much oil as possible from being washed further down the river.”