This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Monday 15 January 2024
Chicken 'Run'?
The river Wye is on the English-Welsh border. The Environmental Agency notionally 'looks after' the natural environments in England. Wales has a different arrangement. The Environmental Agency has been accused of 'scandalous neglect', for allowing masses of chicken shit to enter that river (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/13/environment-agency-accused-of-scandalous-neglect-over-chicken-excrement-entering-river-wye). Allowing chicken excrement to enter any river, naturally causes eutrophication. This often results in harmful algal blooms. These blooms remove the water's oxygen, killing fish and other riverine organisms. The algae can also be toxic, endangering folk using the river for activities like canoeing (a popular activity on the Wye). There's an accumulation of intensive chicken farms on the banks of the Wye. Many had drains, excavated within a few metres, of their sheds. The Environmental Agency seemed to 'turn a blind eye' to this obvious source of river pollution. In this respect, England's Environmental Agency seems just as effective as it's been in controlling the activities of the privatised Water Companies. The Water Companies continue to pump record volumes of human excrement into rivers and the seas from their treatment plants. This boosts their profits.
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