A POLLUTION alert was triggered this week when a passer-by reported a brown liquid being discharged into the River Tees.
The discharge, which occurred on Wednesday, August 21, was at the end of Gray Lane on the Demesnes Riverside Play Area.
Maureen Raphael, who witnessed the incident, said: ” We saw it around 1pm and it was a really heavy discharge.
“It had turned at least a quarter of the river into a horrible brown soup. We walk along the river path regularly and have never seen anything like it before.”
A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: “We have been made aware of suspected discharge in the Barnard Castle area of the River Tees. A full investigation of our assets was carried out to identify any potential source.
“Initially there were concerns that the discharge was sewage, however, this proved not to be the case.”
The spokesperson added: “Having now investigated the issue alongside the Environment Agency, we can confirm that the discharge is silt and that it has not come from one of our sites – instead from a third party cleansing their assets.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a report was received from a resident in the Barnard Castle area regarding pollution to the River Tees at Demesnes Riverside Play area.
“The pollution is believed to be third party silt coming from a surface water outfall operated by Northumbrian Water Ltd. We have contacted the water company and will look to work closely together to help resolve the issue. Our investigations are ongoing.”
The Northumbrian Water spokesman said: “We understand that the silt has come from a new housing development in the area. We are continuing to investigate this matter in partnership with the Environment Agency.”
The incident came on the same day the World Wide Fund for Nature condemned the state of British rivers saying they “are being used as open sewers” .
