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Salmon & Trout Conservation UK

Written By: Press Office
On Date: 23/9/2018

Is this the end of chlorine-based cleaning products at Alresford salad washing plant? Finally, it appears Alresford salad washing plant is planning to stop using chlorine-based cleaning products.
This would mean that there would no longer be any products used to wash the site’s equipment that could react to form chloramines in the River Itchen, which are highly toxic to water life even in very low concentrations in water.

At S&TC we have been campaigning for this for a long-time.

Our own Riverfly Census invertebrate data and phosphate monitoring on the Itchen in recent years indicate that the river is far from a pristine chalkstream.

We feel it is extraordinary that chlorine products are ever allowed to be discharged, insufficiently treated, into any UK river, let alone a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) such as Itchen, the most protected under EU legalisation.

This, however, would only be a small potential win. It is important to remember that any chemicals used to disinfect and clean are, by their nature, toxic.

We do not believe any of these chemicals should be discharged into an SAC river.

Applying the precautionary principle, the solution is easy- connect the discharge to the main sewer, as nearby competitor, Vitacress, has already done on the Bourne Rivulet.

Yes, this would be at a cost, but should a multi-million pound industry really be allowed to use an SAC to dispose of chemical waste?


Next steps

On the 10th September Alresford salad washing plant began a 6-week trial into the new chlorine-free cleaning products for its night-time washing; during which time the EA has requested monitoring of the discharges.

Following this:
• The EA envisage the updated risk assessment will be submitted to them by the end of October
• The EA will then undertake consultation with Natural England in mid-December
• The EA plan to consult the public on their position in February 2019

Imported Pesticides?

It is worth noting that we have wider concerns beyond the night-time washing effluent.

We also have concerns about whether pesticides, which may be washed off imported salad that is being processed and bagged at Alresford, could also be ending up in the Itchen.

We plan to do more monitoring to assess this risk and will be requesting to see the EA’s official policy on protecting our rivers from the risks of chemicals washed off imported goods and discharged directly into our watercourses.

As always, we will continue to provide updates via our website, social media and email.

In the meantime, I’ll be washing my own salad!
-
Words by our Head of Science & Policy, Dr Janina Gray
Read Full Article


Learn more about the S&TC Riverfly Census
Salmon & Trout Conservation UK is a registered charity: England & Wales number 1123285, Scotland number SC041584. Salmon & Trout Conservation UK is a company registered in England and Wales. No. 5051506. VAT Number: 564 4723 28

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