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Fish perish in sewage leak
Neighbours alert officials after spotting dead fish in stream
Hundreds of fish have been killed after sewage leaked into a stream.
An inquiry has been launched after inspectors from the Environment Agency were called to Pix Brook in Stotfold on Friday, May 9 when residents spotted dead fish floating on the stream's surface.
After looking into the situation, the body is pointing the finger of blame at Letchworth Sewage Works.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We are in discussions with Anglian Water after a plant failure at Letchworth Sewage Treatment Works, which we believe resulted in effluent being discharged into the Pix Brook.
"The discharge was relatively shortlived and, aside from the death of 900 fish, there was actually minimal biological impact. But it is likely we will be taking further action if it appears that the leakage could have been prevented."
A spokesman for Anglian Water, which runs the Letchworth works, said: "We are currently working with the Environment Agency to find out what caused the death of the fish, but we do know that sewage was discharged into the Pix Brook when it shouldn't have been."
Anglian Water also said it will be restocking the river with fish after the investigation has been carried out and, if need be, re-oxygenating the water.
Stotfold resident George Arnold first alerted us to the situation. He said: "It's a real shame because the river has become so much cleaner over the last decade or so, and the fish have increased both in size and number."
Stotfold town councillor Linda Wilding said: "I went down to the brook on Friday and dead fish were just floating by continuously – the biggest must have been about 14 inches long."
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Weather for Bedford
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
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Sunny spells
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