Thursday 27 July saw the first incident, when over 36 300 brown trout, stoneloach, bullheads minnows and sticklebacks were found dead in a river in Rawtenstall near Lancashire. EA fish experts attending the scene are reported to have said that it was the worst fish kill they had ever seen.
On Saturday 29 July a pollution incident caused major damage to the River Dee fishery. Over 10 000 fish including salmon, trout, sea trout, pike, barbel and other coarse fish species were found dead in the river, though the EA reports that the number may rise as the clean-up continues.
On the same day a pollution incident on the River Cale, near Gillingham in Dorset was reported to the EA, when over 3000 chub, carp, pike, eels, minnows, gudgeon and stoneloach were killed by farm waste. The death-toll there is also expected to rise.
The fourth pollution incident was on Sunday 30 July at the Rosper Road Nature Reserve in South Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, designated as a SSSI. Reports indicated that stickleback and invertebrates have been killed.
The EA is asking that anyone with information as to the causes of these or any other incidents should call the EA emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.